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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d23bff2 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63275 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63275) diff --git a/old/63275-0.txt b/old/63275-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 57eb040..0000000 --- a/old/63275-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,16319 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dabistán, Volume 1 (of 3), by -David Shea and Anthony Troyer and Muòhsin Fåanåi - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Dabistán, Volume 1 (of 3) - or School of manners, translated from the original Persian, - with notes and illus. - -Author: David Shea - Anthony Troyer - Muòhsin Fåanåi - -Release Date: September 23, 2020 [EBook #63275] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DABISTÁN, VOLUME 1 (OF 3) *** - - - - -Produced by Édith Nolot, Bryan Ness, Carol Brown and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - -THE DABISTÁN, - -OR - -SCHOOL OF MANNERS. - - - - -MADAME VEUVE DONDEY-DUPRÉ, - -Printer to the Asiatic Societies of London, Paris, and Calcutta, - -46, rue St-Louis, Paris. - - - - -THE - -DABISTÁN, - -OR - -SCHOOL OF MANNERS, - - -TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL PERSIAN, - -WITH NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS, - -BY - -DAVID SHEA, - -OF THE ORIENTAL DEPARTMENT IN THE HONORABLE EAST INDIA COMPANY’S -COLLEGE; - -AND - -ANTHONY TROYER, - -MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETIES OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, OF -CALCUTTA AND PARIS, AND OF THE ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF PARIS; - -EDITED, WITH A PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE, BY THE LATTER. - - -VOLUME I. - - - - -PARIS: - -PRINTED FOR THE ORIENTAL TRANSLATION FUND OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. - -SOLD BY - -BENJAMIN DUPRAT, BOOKSELLER TO THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE ROYALE, - -7, RUE DU CLOITRE SAINT-BENOIT. - -AND ALLEN AND CO., LEADENHALD-STREET, LONDON. - -1843. - - - - -TO - -The Memory - -OF - -THE RIGHT HONORABLE - -THE EARL OF MUNSTER, - -_Etc., etc., etc._ - - - - - CONTENTS - - _Of the Preliminary Discourse_. - - - Page - - PART I. - - Introduction. - - Section I.――How the Dabistán first became - known――its author――the sources of - his information iii - - II.――Discussion on the Desátir xix - - - PART II. - - Synopsis of the dynasties, religions, sects, and - philosophic opinions treated of in the Dabistán. - - Section I.――The first religion――the dynasties of - Mahabad, Abad Azar, Shai Abad, Shai - Giliv, Shai Mahbad, and Yasan lxvi - - II.――The Peshdadian, Kayanian, Ashkanian, and - Sassanian dynasties――their religious - and political institutions lxxvii - - III.――The religion of Zardusht, or - Zoroaster lxxxiii - - IV.――The religion of the Hindus cv - - V.――Retrospect of the Persian and Indian - religions cxx - - VI.――The religion of the Tabitian (Tibetans) cxxv - - VII.――The religion of the Jews _ibid._ - - VIII.――The religion of the Christians cxxvi - - IX.――The religion of the Muselmans cxxviii - - X.――The religion of the Sadakiahs cxli - - XI.――The religion of the Roshenians cxlv - - XII.――The religion of the Ilahiahs cxlvii - - XIII.――The religion of the Philosophers cliii - - XIV.――The religion of the Súfis clxix - - XV.――Recapitulation of the Contents of - the Dabistán _ibid._ - - - PART III. - - Conclusion. - - Section I.――General appreciation of the Dabistán - and its author clxxix - - II.――Notice concerning the printed edition, - some manuscripts, and the - translations of the Dabistán clxxxviii - - - - - CONTENTS - - _Of the Dabistán (vol. I.)_ - - - Page - - Introduction of the Author 1 - - - CHAPTER I. - - Of the religion of the Parsian 4 - - Section I.――Tenets and ceremonies observed by the - Sipasian and Parsian 5 - Description of the worship rendered to - the seven planets, according to the - Sipasian faith 35 - - II.――Description of the Sipasian sect 87 - - III.――The laws of the Paiman-i-Farhang and - the Hirbed Sár 147 - Descriptions of the gradations of - Paradise 150 - Description of the infernal regions 152 - - IV.――An account of the Jamshapian sect 193 - - V.――The Samradian sect 195 - - VI.――The tenets of the Khodaiyan 201 - - VII.――The system of the Rádián _ibid._ - - VIII.――The Shidrangián creed 203 - - IX.――The Páikárian creed _ibid._ - - X.――The Milánián system 204 - - XI.――The system of the followers of Alár 206 - - XII.――The Shidanian faith 207 - - XIII.――The system of the Akhshiyán sect _ibid._ - - XIV.――The followers of Zardusht 211 - Account of the precepts given by Zardusht - to the king and all mankind 260 - The Sad-der, or “the hundred gates” of - Zardusht 310 - Enumeration of some advantages which - arise from the enigmatical forms of - the precepts of Zardusht’s followers 351 - Summary of the contents of the Mah-zend 353 - - XV.――An account of the tenets held by the - followers of Mazdak 372 - - - - -PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. - - - - -PART I. - -INTRODUCTION. - -§ I.――HOW THE DABISTAN FIRST BECAME KNOWN――ITS -AUTHOR――THE SOURCES OF HIS INFORMATION. - - -It is generally known that sir William Jones was the first who drew -the attention of Orientalists to the Dabistán. This happened five -years after the beginning of a new era in Oriental literature, the -foundation of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta by that illustrious man. -It may not appear inopportune here to revive the grateful remembrance -of one who acquired the uncontested merit of not only exciting in Asia -and Europe a new ardor for Oriental studies, but also of directing -them to their great objects――MAN and NATURE; and of endeavoring, by -word and deed, to render the attainment of languages conducive to the -required knowledge equally easy and attractive. - -Having, very early in life, gained an European reputation as a scholar -and elegant writer, sir William Jones embarked[1] for the Indian -shores with vast projects, embracing, with the extension of science, -the general improvement of mankind.[2] Four months after his arrival -in Calcutta,[3] he addressed as the first president of the Asiatic -Society, a small but select assembly, in which he found minds -responsive to his own noble sentiments. A rapid sketch of the first -labors of their incomparable leader, may not be irrelevant to our -immediate subject. - -In his second anniversary discourse,[4] he proposed a general plan for -investigating Asiatic learning, history, and institutions. In his -third discourse, he traced the line of investigation, which he -faithfully followed, as long as he lived in India, in his annual -public speeches: he determined to exhibit the prominent features of -the five principal nations of Asia――the Indians, Arabs, Tartars, -Persians, and Chinese. After having treated in the two following years -of the Arabs and Tartars, he considered in his sixth discourse[5] the -Persians, and declared that he had been induced by his earliest -investigations to believe, and by his latest to conclude, that three -primitive races of men must have migrated originally from a central -country, and that this country was _Iran_, commonly called Persia. -Examining with particular care the traces of the most ancient -languages and religions which had prevailed in this country, he -rejoiced at “a fortunate discovery, for which,” he said, “he was first -indebted to Mir Muhammed Hussain, one of the most intelligent -Muselmans in India, and which has at once dissipated the cloud, and -cast a gleam of light on the primeval history of Iran and of the human -race, of which he had long despaired, and which could hardly have -dawned from any other quarter;” this was, he declared, “the rare and -interesting tract on twelve different religions, entitled the -DABISTAN.”[6] - -Sir William Jones read the Dabistán for the first time in 1787. I -cannot refrain from subjoining here the opinion upon this work, which -he communicated in a private letter, dated June, 1787, to J. Shore, -esq. (afterwards lord Teignmouth); he says: “The greatest part of it -would be very interesting to a curious reader, but some of it cannot -be translated. It contains more recondite learning, more entertaining -history, more beautiful specimens of poetry, more ingenuity and wit, -more indecency and blasphemy, than I ever saw collected in a single -volume;[7] the two last are not of the author’s, but are introduced in -the chapters on the heretics and infidels of India.[8] On the whole, -it is the most amusing and instructive book I ever read in -Persian.”[9] - -We may suppose it was upon the recommendation of sir William Jones, -that Francis Gladwin, one of the most distinguished members of the new -Society, translated the first chapter of _The Dabistán_, or “School of -Manners,” which title has been preserved from due regard to the -meritorious Orientalist, who first published the translation of a part -of this work. The whole of it was printed in the year 1809, in -Calcutta, and translations of some parts of it were published in _The -Asiatic Researches_.[10] It is only at present, more than half a -century after the first public notice of it by sir W. Jones, that the -version of the whole work appears, under the auspices and at the -expense of the Oriental Translation Committee of Great Britain and -Ireland. - -Who was the author of the Dabistán?――Sir William Jones thought it was -composed by a Muhammedan traveller, a native of Kachmir, named -_Mohsan_, but distinguished by the assumed surname of _Fání_, “the -Perishable.” - -Gladwin[11] calls him _Shaikh Muhammed Mohsin_, and says that, besides -the Dabistán, he has left behind him a collection of poems, among -which there is a moral essay, entitled _Masdur ul asas_, “the source -of signs;” he was of the philosophic sect of Súfis, and patronised by -the imperial prince _Dara Shikoh_, whom he survived; among his -disciples in philosophy is reckoned _Muhammed Tahir_, surnamed -_Ghawri_, whose poems are much admired in Hindostan. Mohsan’s death is -placed in the year of the Hejira 1081 (A. D. 1670). - -William Erskine,[12] in search of the true author of the Dabistán, -discovered no other account of Mohsan Fání than that contained in the -_Gul-i-Râana_, “charming rose,” of _Lachmi Narayán_, who flourished in -Hyderabad about the end of the 18th or the beginning of the 19th -century. This author informs us, under the article of Mohsan Fání, -that “Mohsán, a native of Kachmir, was a learned man and a respectable -poet; a scholar of _Mulla Yakub_, Súfi of Kachmir; and that, after -completing his studies, he repaired to Delhi, to the court of the -emperor _Shah Jehan_, by whom, in consequence of his great reputation -and high acquirements, he was appointed _Sadder_, ‘chief judge,’ of -Allahabad; that there he became a disciple of Shaikh _Mohib ulla_, an -eminent doctor of that city, who wrote the treatise entitled -_Teswich_, ‘the golden Mean.’ Mohsan Fání enjoyed this honorable -office till Shah Jehân subdued Balkh; at which time _Nazer Muhammed -Khan_, the Wali, ‘prince,’ of Balkh, having effected his escape, all -his property was plundered. It happened that in his library there was -found a copy of Mohsan’s Diwán, or ‘poetical Collection,’ which -contained an ode in praise of the (fugitive) Wáli. This gave such -offence to the emperor, that the Sadder was disgraced and lost his -office, but was generously allowed a pension. He retired (as Lachmi -informs us) to his native country, where he passed the rest of his -days without any public employment, happy and respected. His house was -frequented by the most distinguished men of Kachmir, and among the -rest by the governors of the province. He had lectures at his house, -being accustomed to read to his audience the writings of certain -authors of eminence, on which he delivered moral and philosophical -comments. Several scholars of note, among whom were Taher Ghawri -(before mentioned) and _Haji Aslem Salem_, issued from his school.” He -died on the before mentioned date. “It is to be observed that Lachmi -does not mention the Dabistán as a production of Mohsan Fání, though, -had he written it, it must have been his most remarkable work.” - -Erskine goes on to recapitulate some particulars mentioned in the -Dabistán of the author’s life, and concludes that it seems very -improbable that Mohsan Fání and the author of the Dabistán were the -same person. In this conclusion, and upon the same grounds, he -coincides with the learned Vans Kennedy.[13] - -Erskine further quotes,[14] from a manuscript copy of the Dabistán -which he saw in the possession of Mulla Firuz, in Bombay, the -following marginal note annexed to the close of chapter XIV.: “In the -city of Daurse, a king of the Parsis, of the race of the imperial -Anushirván, the Shet Dawer Huryár, conversed with _Amír Zulfikar -Ali-al-Husaini_ (on whom be the grace of God!), whose poetical name -was Mobed Shah.” This Zulfikar Ali, whoever he was, the Mulla supposes -to be the author of the Dabistán. Erskine judiciously subjoins: “On so -slight an authority, I would not willingly set up an unknown author as -the compiler of that work; but it is to be remarked that many verses -of Mobed’s are quoted in the Dabistán, and there is certainly reason -to suspect that the poetical Mobed, whoever he may be, was the author -of that compilation.” - -“To this let it be added, that the author of the Dabistán; in his -account of Mobed Serosh, says[15] that one Muhammed Mohsan, a man of -learning, told him that he had heard Mobed Serosh give three hundred -and sixty proofs of the existence of God. This at least makes Muhammed -Mohsan, whoever he may be, a different person from the author of the -Dabistán.” - -I cannot omit adding the following notice annexed to the note quoted -above: “Between the printed copy and Mulla Firuz’s manuscript before -alluded to, a difference occurs in the very beginning of the work. -After the poetical address to the Deity and the praise of the prophet, -with which the Dabistán, like most other Muselman works, commences, -the manuscript reads: ‘Mohsan Fani says,’ and two moral couplets -succeed. In the printed copy, the words ‘Mohsan Fani says,’――which -should occur between the last word of the first page and the first -word of the second――are omitted. As no account of the author is given -in the beginning of the book, as is usual with Muselman writers, Mulla -Firuz conjectures that a careless or ignorant reader may have -considered the words ‘Mohsan Fáni says’ as forming the commencement of -the volume, and as containing the name of the author of the whole -book; whereas they merely indicate the author of the couplets that -follow, and would rather show that Mohsan Fani was not the writer of -the Dabistán. This conjecture, I confess, appears to me at once -extremely ingenious and very probable. A comparison of different -manuscripts might throw more light on the question.” - -Concerning the opinion last stated, I can but remark, that in a -manuscript copy of the Dabistán, which I procured from the library of -the king of Oude, and caused to be transcribed for me, the very same -words: “Mohsan Fani says,” occur (as I have observed in vol. I. p. 6, -note 3), preceding a _rabaâ_, or quatrain, which begins: - - “The world is a book full of knowledge and of justice,” etc. etc. - -These lines seem well chosen as an introduction to the text itself, -which begins by a summary of the whole work, exhibiting the titles of -the twelve chapters of which it is composed. As the two copies -mentioned (the one found in Bombay, the other in Lucknow) contain the -same words, they can hardly be taken for an accidental addition of a -copyist. I found no remark upon this point in Mr. Shea’s translation, -who had two manuscript copies to refer to. Whatever it be, it must -still remain undecided, whether Mohsan Fani was there named only as -the author of the next quatrain or of the whole book, although either -hypothesis may not appear destitute of probability; nor can it be -considered strange to admit that the name of Mohsan Fani was borne by -more than one individual. I shall be permitted to continue calling the -author of the Dabistán by the presumed name of Mohsan Fani. - -Dropping this point, we shall now search for information upon his -person, character, and knowledge in the work itself. Is he really a -native of Kachmir, as here before stated? - -Although in the course of his book he makes frequent mention of -Kachmir, he never owns himself a native of that country. In one part -of his narrative, he expressly alludes to another home. He begins the -second chapter upon the religion of the Hindus (vol. II. p. 2) by -these words: “As inconstant fortune had torn away the author from the -shores of Persia, and made him the associate of the believers in -transmigration and those who addressed their prayers to idols and -images, and worshipped demons * * * *.” Now we know that Kachmir is -considered as a very ancient seat, nay as the very cradle, of the -doctrine of transmigration, and of Hinduism in general, with all its -tenets, rites, and customs; and that from the remotest times to the -present it was inhabited by numerous adherents of this faith; how -could the author, if a native of Kachmir, accuse inconstant fortune -for having made him elsewhere an associate of these very religionists -with whom, from his birth, he must have been accustomed to live? The -passage just quoted leaves scarce a doubt that the shores of Persia, -from which he bewails having been torn, were really his native country. - - -When was he born? - -He no where adduces the date of his birth; the earliest period of his -life which he mentions, is the year of the Hejira 1028 (A. D. -1618):[16] in this year the Mobed Hushíar brought the author to Balik -Nátha, a great adept in the Yoga, or ascetic devotion, to receive the -blessing of that holy man, who pronounced these words over him: “This -boy shall acquire the knowledge of God.” It is not stated in what -place this happened. The next earliest date is five years later, 1033 -of the Hejira (A. D. 1623).[17] He says that, in his infancy, he came -with his friends and relations from Patna to the capital Akbar-abad, -and was carried in the arms of the Mobed Hushíar to Chatur Vapah, a -famous ascetic of those days. The pious man rejoiced at it, and -bestowed his blessing on the future writer of the Dabistán; he taught -him the _mantra_, “prayer,” of the sun, and appointed one of his -disciples to remain with the boy until the age of manhood. We have -here a positive statement: in the year 1623 A. D., he was “in his -infancy,” and carried “in the arms of his protector.” Giving the -widest extension to these expressions, we can hardly think him to have -been either much older or younger than seven or eight years: not much -older, for being in some way carried in the arms of the Mobed; nor -much younger, having been taught a hymn to the sun, and he might have -been a boy of three years when he received the first-mentioned -blessing from Balik Natha. We may therefore suppose him to have been -born about the year 1615 of our era, in the tenth year of the reign of -the emperor Jehangir. We collect in his work fifty-three dates -relative to himself between the year 1618 and 1653. From 1627 to 1643, -we see him mostly in Kachmir and Lahore, travelling between these two -places; in 1643, he was at the holy sepulchre, probably at Meshhad, -which appears to be the furthermost town to the West which he reached; -from 1634 to 1649, he dwelt in several towns of the Panjab and -Guzerat; the next year he proceeded to Sikakul, the remotest town in -the East which he says he has visited; there he fell sick, and -sojourned during 1653, at which epoch, if the year of his birth be -correctly inferred, he had attained his thirty-eighth year. We have no -other date of his death than that before stated: if he died in 1670, -it was in the eleventh year of the reign of Aurengzéb, or Alemgir. -Mohsan Fani would therefore have passed his infancy, youth, and -manhood mostly in India, under the reigns of the three emperors, -Jehangír, Shah Jehan, and Aurengzeb.[18] It was the state of religion, -prevailing in those days in Hindostan that he describes. - -From his earliest age he appears to have led an active life, -frequently changing his residence. Such a mode of life belongs to a -travelling merchant or philosopher, and in our author both qualities -might have been united, as is often the case in Asia. Mohsan Fani, -during his travels, collected the diversified and curious materials -for the Dabistán; he observed with his own eyes the manners and -customs of different nations and sects. He says himself at the -conclusion of his work: “After having much frequented the meetings of -the followers of the five before-said religions,” Magians, Hindus, -Jews, Nazareans, and Muselmans, “the author wished and undertook to -write this book; and whatever in this work, treating of the religions -of different countries, is stated concerning the creed of different -sects, has been taken from their books, and for the account of the -persons belonging to any particular sect, the author’s information was -imparted to him by their adherents and sincere friends, and recorded -literally, so that no trace of partiality nor aversion might be -perceived: in short, the writer of these pages performed no more than -the task of a translator.” This declaration, even to a severe critic, -may appear satisfactory. Sir William Jones called him[19] a learned -and accurate, a candid and ingenious author. A further appreciation of -Mohsan Fani’s character is reserved for subsequent pages. We can, -however, here state, that he sought the best means of information, and -gives us what he had acquired not only from personal experience, which -is always more or less confined; not only from oral instruction, which -is too often imperfectly given and received; but also from an -attentive perusal of the best works which he could procure upon the -subject of his investigation. Of the latter authorities which the -author produces, some are known in Europe, and we may judge of the -degree of accuracy and intelligence with which he has made use of -them. Of others, nothing at all, or merely the name, is known. This is -generally the case with works relative to the old Persian religion, -which is the subject of the first chapter, divided into fifteen -sections. - -The authorities which he adduces for this chapter are as follow: - - 1. The _Amighistan_ (vol. I. pp. 15. 26. 42), without the name of - its author. - - 2. The _Desátir_ (vol. I. pp. 20. 21. 44. 65), an heaven-bestowed - book. - - 3. The _Darai Sekander_ (vol. I. pp. 34. 360), composed by Dáwir - Háryar. - - 4. The _Akhteristan_, “region of the stars” (vol. I. pp. 35. 42). - - 5. The _Jashen Sadah_, “the festival of Sadah” (the 16th night of - January) (vol. I. pp. 72. 112). - - 6. The _Sárud-i-mastan_, “song of the intoxicated” (vol. I. p. 76. - vol. II. p. 136): this and the preceding work composed by Mobed - Hushíar. - - 7. The _Jam-i-Kai Khusro_, “the cup of Kai Khusro,” a commentary - upon the poems of Azar Kaivan, composed by Mobed Khod Jai (vol. - I. pp. 76. 84. 119.) - - 8. The _Sharistan-i-Danish wa Gulistan-i-binish_, “the pavilion of - knowledge and rose-garden of vision” (vol. I. p. 77. 89. 109), - composed by Farzanah Bahram. - - 9. The _Zerdusht Afshar_ (vol. I. p. 77), work of the Mobed Serosh, - who composed also: - - 10. _Nosh Daru_, “sweet medicine” (vol. I. p. 114); and - - 11. The _Sagangubin_, “dog’s honey” (vol. I. p. 114). - - 12. The _Bazm-gah-i-durvishan_, “the banquetting-room of the - durvishes” (vol. I. pp. 104. 108), without the name of the author. - - 13. The _Arzhang Mani_, “the gallery of Mani” (vol. I. p. 131). - - 14. The _Tabrah-i-Mobedi_, “the sacerdotal kettle-drum” (vol. I. p. - 123), by Mobed Paristar. - - 15. The _Dadistan Aursah_ (vol. I. p. 131). - - 16. The _Amízesh-i-farhang_ (vol. I. p. 145), containing the - institutes of the Abadiah durvishes. - - 17. The _Míhín farush_ (vol. I. p. 244). - - 18. The _Testament of Jamshid to Abtin_ (vol. I. p. 195), compiled - by Farhang Dostúr. - - 19. _Razabad_, composed by Shídab. - - 20. The _Sányál_, a book of the Sipasians (vol. II. p. 136), - containing an account of a particular sort of devotion. - - 21. The _Rama zastan_ of Zardusht (vol. I. p. 369 and vol. II. p. - 136). - - 22. _Huz al Hayat_ (vol. II. p. 137), composed by Ambaret Kant. - - 23. The _Samrad Nameh_, by Kamkar (vol. I. p. 201). - -Besides other writings of Zertusht, in great number, which the author -has seen. - -These works are most probably of a mystical nature, and belong to a -particular sect, but may contain, however, some interesting traditions -or facts of ancient history. Of the twenty-three books just -enumerated, a part of the third only is known to us, namely, that of -the Desátir. - - - [1] In April, 1783. - - [2] He landed at Calcutta in September, 1783. - - [3] In January, 1784. - - [4] Delivered in February, 1785. - - [5] In February, 1789. - - [6] The works of sir William Jones, with the life of the - author, by lord Teignmouth, in 13 vols. Vol. III. p. 110. - 1807. - - [7] I shall hereafter give some explanations upon this - subject. - - [8] There appears in the printed edition no positive ground - for the opinion above expressed; we find, however, frequent - repetitions of the same subject, such as are not likely to - belong to the same author; we know, besides, that additions - and interpolations are but too common in all Oriental - manuscripts. - - [9] The Persian text, with the translation of the first - chapter, appeared in the two first numbers of the _New - Asiatic Miscellany_. Calcutta, 1789. This English version - was rendered into German by Dalberg, 1809. - - [10] These translations are mentioned in the notes of the - present version. - - [11] New Asiatic Misc., p. 87. - - [12] Transactions of the Literary Society of Bombay, vol. - II. p. 374. - - [13] Transactions of the Literary Society of Bombay, vol. - II. pp. 243-244. - - [14] Ibid., pp. 375-376. - - [15] See the present Transl., vol. I. pp. 113-114. A mistake - is here to be pointed out: at p. 114, l. 11, the name of - Kaivan has been substituted for that of Mobed Serosh. - - [16] See vol. II. p. 137. - - [17] See vol. II. p. 145. - - [18] Jehangír reigned from 1605 to 1628. - Shah Jehan ―――― 1628 ―――― 1659. - Aurengzeb ―――― 1659 ―――― 1707. - - [19] The Works of sir W. Jones, vol. IV. pp. 16 and 105. - - -§ II.――DISCUSSION ON THE DESATIR. - -This word was considered to be the Arabic plural of the original -Persian word _dostúr_, signifying “a note-book, pillar, canon, model, -learned man;” but, according to the Persian grammar, its plural would -be _dosturán_, or _dostúrha_, and not _desátir_. From this Arabic form -of the word an inference was drawn against the originality and -antiquity of the Desátir; but this of itself is not sufficient, as -will be shown. - -Other readings of the title are _Dastánir_, in one passage,[20] and -_Wasátir_[21] in two other places of Gladwin’s Persian text, and the -last also in a passage of the printed edition.[22] The first is not -easily accounted for, and is probably erroneous; but the second is -found in the index of the printed edition,[23] under the letter و, -_vau_, and explained: “the name of the book of Mahabad;” it cannot -therefore be taken for a typographical error, and is the correct title -of the book, as I now think, although I formerly[24] preferred reading -_Desátir_. It is derivable from the Sansrcit root वाश् _wás_, “to -sound, to call,” and therefore in the form of _wasátis_ or _wasâtir_ -(the _r_ and _s_ being frequently substituted for the _visarga_) it -signifies “speech, oracle, precept, command.” It is also in connection -with the old Persian word _wakshur_, “a prophet.” Considering the -frequent substitution in kindred languages of _ba_ for _va_, and _ba_ -for _bha_, it may also be referred to the root भाष _bhasha_, “to -speak,”[25] which, with the prepositions _pari_ and _sam_, signifies -“to explain, expound, discourse.” Hence we read in the Commentary of -the _Desátir_ the ancient Persian word _basátir_[26] (not to be found -in modern Persian vocabularies), which is there interpreted by -“speculations,” in the following passage: “the speculations (basátir) -which I have written on the _desátir_.” - -I shall nevertheless keep, in the ensuing Dissertation, the title -Desátir, because it is generally adopted. Besides, in the Mahabádian -text, the _vau_, و, frequently occurs for the Persian _dál_, د, thus -we find وادن, _wáden_, for دادن, _dáden_, “to give;” and _wárem_, -وارم, for _dárem_, دارم, “I have;” but I am aware that the two -letters, so similar in their form, may be easily confounded with each -other by the copyist or printer. - -The extract from the Desátir contained in the Dabistán was thought -worthy of the greatest attention by sir William Jones, as before -mentioned; nay, appeared to him “an unexceptionable authority,” before -a part of the Desátir itself was published in Bombay, in the year -1818, that is, twenty-four years after the death of that eminent man. - -The author of the Dabistán mentions the Desátir as a work well known -among the Sipasians, that is, the adherents of the most ancient -religion of Persia. According to his statement, the emperor Akbar -conversed frequently with the fire-adorers of Guzerat; he also called -from Persia a follower of Zerdusht, named _Ardeshir_, and invited -fire-worshippers from Kirman to his court, and received their -religious books from that country; we may suppose the Desátir was -among them. So much is positive, that it is quoted in the _Sharistan -chehar chemen_, a work composed by a celebrated doctor who lived under -the reigns of the emperors Akbar and Jehangír, and died A. D. 1624. -The compiler of the Burhani Kati, a Persian Dictionary, to be compared -to the Arabic _Kamus_, or “sea of language,” quotes and explains a -great number of obsolete words and philosophic terms upon the -authority of the Desátir: this evidently proves the great esteem in -which this work was held. Let it be considered that a dictionary is -not destined for the use of a sect merely, but of the whole nation -that speaks the language, and this is the Persian, considered, even by -the Arabs, as the second language in the world and in paradise.[27] - -It is to be regretted that Mohsan Fani did not relate where and how he -himself became acquainted with the Desátir. I see no sufficient ground -for the supposition of Silvestre de Sacy[28] and an anonymous -critic,[29] that the author of the Dabistán never saw the Desátir. So -much is certain, that the account which he gives of the Mahabádian -religion coincides in every material point with that which is -contained in that part of the sacred book which was edited in Bombay -by _Mulla Firuz Bin-i-Kaus_.[30] - -This editor says in his preface (p. vi): “The Desátir is known to have -existed for many years, and has frequently been referred to by Persian -writers, though, as it was regarded as the sacred volume of a -particular sect, it seems to have been guarded with that jealous care -and that incommunicative spirit, that have particularly distinguished -the religious sects of the East. We can only fairly expect, therefore, -that the contents should be known to the followers of the sect.” Mulla -Firuz employs here evidently the term _sect_ with respect to the -dominant religion of the Muhammedan conquerors, whose violent and -powerful intolerance reduced the still faithful followers of the -ancient national religion to undergo the fate of a persecuted sect. -But we shall see that the doctrine of the Desátir is justly entitled -to a much higher pretension than to be that of an obscure sect. - -Whatever it be, Mulla Firuz possessed the only manuscript of the work -then known in Bombay. It was purchased at Isfahan by his father Kaus, -about the year 1778, from a bookseller, who sold it under the title of -a Gueber book. Brought to Bombay, it attracted the particular -attention of Mr. Duncan, then governor of Bombay, to such a degree, -that he began an English translation of the work, which was -interrupted by his return to England. The final completion of the -version was owing to the great encouragement which sir John Malcolm -gave Mulla Firuz in consequence of the high opinion which sir William -Jones had publicly expressed of the Dabistán, the author of which drew -his account of the ancient Persian dynasties and religions chiefly -from the Desátir. There is an interval of one hundred and thirty-three -years[31] between the composition of the Dabistán and the fortuitous -purchase of the manuscript copy of the Desátir, by Kaus in Isfahan; as -it would be assuming to much to suppose that the latter is the same -from which Mohsan Fani drew his information, we can but admit that the -agreement of both, in the most material points, affords a confirmation -of each respective text. - -The great Orientalist Silvestre de Sacy, on reviewing the Desátir,[32] -says: “We are in a manner frightened by the multitude and gravity of -the questions which we shall have to solve, or at least to discuss; -for every thing is here a problem: What is the age of the book? Who is -its author? Is it the work of several persons; or the divers parts of -which it is composed, are they written by one and the same author, -although attributed to different individuals, who succeeded each other -at long intervals? The language in which it was written, was it, at -any epoch, that of the inhabitants of Persia, or of any of the -countries comprised in the empire of Iran? Or is it nothing but a -factitious language, invented to support an imposture? At what epoch -were made the Persian translation accompanying the original text, and -the commentary joined to this translation? Who is the author of the -one and the other? Are not this translation and this commentary -themselves pseudonymous and apocryphal books; or may not the whole be -the work of an impostor of the latter centuries? All these questions -present themselves in a crowd to my mind; and if some of them appear -to be easily answered, others offer more than common difficulties.” - -Well may a person, even with far greater pretensions than mine can be, -hesitate to attempt the discussion of a subject which _frightened_ the -illustrious Silvestre de Sacy; but as the Desátir is one of the -principal sources from which the author of the Dabistán drew his -account of the Persian religion and its divers sects――a considerable -part of his work――I cannot dispense with presenting the subject in the -state in which the discussions hitherto published, by very respectable -critics, have left it. If I venture to offer a few remarks of my own -upon it, it is only in the hope of provoking further elucidations by -philologers who shall examine the Mahabadian text itself, and by -arguments drawn from its fundamentals decide the important -question――whether we shall have one language more or less to count -among the relics of antiquity? - -Instead of following the order in which the questions are stated -above, I will begin by that which appears to me the most important, -namely: “the language in which the Desátir is written, is it nothing -but a factitious language invented to support an imposture?” - -The forgery of a language, so bold an imposture, renders any other -fraud probable; through a false medium no truth can be expected, nor -even sought. But, in order to guard against the preconception of a -forgery having taken place, a preconception the existence of which -may, with too good a foundation, be apprehended, I shall first -examine, as a general thesis, whether the invention of a language, by -one individual or by a few individuals, is in itself probable and -credible. I shall only adduce those principles which have received the -sanction of great philologers, among whom it may be sufficient to name -baron William Humboldt, and claim the reader’s indulgence, if, in -endeavoring to be clear, I should not have sufficiently avoided trite -observations. - -Tracing languages up to their first origin, it has been found that -they are derived from sounds expressive of feelings; these are -preserved in the roots, from which, in the progressive development of -the faculty of speech, verbs, nouns, and the whole language, are -formed. In every speech, even in the most simple one, the individual -feeling has a connection with the common nature of mankind; speech is -not a work of reflection: it is an instinctive creation. The -infallible presence of the word required on every occasion is -certainly not a mere act of memory; no human memory would be capable -of furnishing it, if man did not possess in himself instinctively the -key, not only for the formation of words, but also for a continued -process of association: upon this the whole system of human language -is founded. By entering into the very substance of existing languages, -it appears evident that they are intellectual creations, which do not -at all pass from one individual to others, but can only emerge from -the coexisting self-activity of all. - - “―― ―― That one the names of things contrived, - And that from him their knowledge all derived, - ‘Tis fond to think.”[33] - -As long as the language lives in the mouth of a nation, the words are -a progressive production and reproduction of the faculty to form -words. In this manner only can we explain, without having recourse to -a supernatural cause, how millions of men can agree to use the same -words for every object, the same locution for every feeling. - -Language in general is the sensible exterior vestment of thought; it -is the product of the intelligence, and the expression of the -character of mankind; in particular it may be considered as the -exterior manifestation of the genius of nations: their language is -their genius, and their genius is their language. We see of what use -the investigation of idioms may be in tracing the affinities of -nations. History and geography must be taken as guides in the -researches upon tongues; but these researches would be futile, if -languages were the irregular product of hazard. No: profound feeling -and immediate clearness of vivid intuition act with wonderful -regularity, and follow an unerring analogy. The genesis of languages -may be assimilated to that of works of genius――I mean, of that -creative faculty which gives rules to an art. Thus is it the language -which dictates the grammar. Moreover, the utmost perfection of which -an idiom is susceptible is a line like that of beauty, which, once -attained, can never be surpassed. This was the case with some ancient -tongues. Since that time, mankind appear to have lost a faculty or a -talent, inasmuch as they are no more actuated by that urgency of keen -feeling which was the very principle of the high perfection of those -languages. - -Comparative philology, a new science, sprung up within the last thirty -years, but already grown to an unforeseen perfection, has fixed the -principles by which the affinities of languages may be known, even -among the apparently irregular disparities which various circumstances -and revolutions of the different nations have created. This would have -been impossible, if there did not exist a fundamental philosophy of -language, however concealed, and a certain consistency, even in the -seemingly most irregular modification of dialect, for instance, in -that of pronunciation. But, even the permutation of letters in -different and the most rude dialects, has its rules, and follows, -within its own compass, a spontaneous analogy, such as is -indispensable for the easy and common practice of a society more or -less numerous. Thus sounds, grammatical forms, and even graphical -signs of language have been subjected to analysis and comparison; the -significant radical letters have been distinguished from the merely -accidental letters, and a distinction has been established between -what is fundamental, and what is merely historical and accidental. - -From these considerations I conclude: - - First――That the forgery of a language is in itself highly improbable; - - Secondly――That, if it had been attempted, comparative philology is - perfectly capable of detecting it. - -Taking a large historical view of this subject, we cannot suppress the -following reflection: The formation of mighty and civilized states -being admitted, even by our strictest chronologers, to have taken -place at least twenty-five centuries before our era, it can but appear -extraordinary, even after taking in account violent revolutions, that -of so multitudinous and great existences, only such scanty documents -should have come down to us. But, strange to say, whenever a testimony -has escaped the destruction of time, instead of being greeted with a -benevolent although discerning curiosity, the unexpected stranger is -approached with mistrustful scrutiny, his voice is stifled with severe -rebukes, his credentials discarded with scorn, and by a predetermined -and stubborn condemnation, resuscitating antiquity is repelled into -the tomb of oblivion. - -I am aware that all dialectical arguments which have been or may be -alleged against the probability of forging a language, would be of no -avail against well-proved facts, that languages have been forged, and -that works, written in them, exist. We may remember the example -adduced by Richardson[34] of a language, as he said, “sufficiently -original, copious, and regular to impose upon persons of very -extensive learning,” forged by Psalmanazar. This was the assumed name -of a an individual, whom the eminent Orientalist calls a Jew, but who, -born in 1679, in Languedoc or in Provence, of Christian parents, -received a Christian, nay theological education, as good as his first -instructors, Franciscans, Jesuits, and Dominicans could bestow. This -extraordinary person threw himself at a very early age into a career -of adventures, in the course of which, at the age of seventeen years, -he fell upon the wild project of passing for a native of the island of -Formosa, first as one who had been converted to Christianity, then, as -still a pagan, he let himself be baptized by a Scotch minister, by -whom he was recommended to an English bishop; the latter, in his pious -illusion, promoted at once the interests of the convertor, and the -fraud of the neophyte.[35] This adventurer who was bold enough, while -on the continent, to set about inventing a new character and language, -a grammar, and a division of the year into twenty months, published in -London, although not twenty years old, a translation of the catechism -into his forged language of Formosa, and a history of the island with -his own alphabetical writing, which read from right to left――a gross -fiction the temporary success of which evinces the then prevailing -ignorance in history, geography, and philology. But pious zeal and -fanaticism had changed a scientific discussion into a religious -quarrel, and for too long a time rendered vain the objections of a few -truly learned and clear-sighted men; until the impostor, either -incapable of supporting longer his pretensions or urged by his -conscience, avowed the deception, and at last became a truly learned -good and estimable man.[36] We see this example badly supports the -cause of forged languages. - -In 1805, M. Rousseau, since consul-general of France at Aleppo, found -in a private library at Baghdad a dictionary of a language which is -designated by the name of _Baláibalan_, interpreted “he who vivifies,” -and written in Arabic characters called _Neshki_; it was explained in -Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. The unknown author of the dictionary -composed it for the intelligence of mysterious and occult sciences, -written in that language. The highly learned Silvestre de Sacy had -scarce been informed of this discovery, when he sought and found in -the Royal Library, at Paris, the same dictionary, and with his usual -diligence and sagacity published a short but lucid Notice of it.[37] -What he said therein was sufficient for giving an idea of the manner -in which this language participates in the grammatical forms of -Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. Silvestre de Sacy, as well as M. -Rousseau, have left it uncertain whether the language be dead or -living; by whom and at what period it was formed, and what authors -have made use of it. The former adds, that some works written in -Baláibalan are likely to be found in the hands of the Súfis of Persia. - -This language deserves perhaps a further examination. All that is -positive in the just-adduced statement of the two great Orientalists -may be said of any other language, which is not original but composed, -as for instance the English or the Dutch, of more than one idiom. We -can but admit that, at all times an association of men for a -particular purpose, a school of art, science, and profession may have, -has, and even must have, a particular phraseology. Any modification of -ancient, or production of new, ideas, will create a modified or a new -language; any powerful influence of particular circumstances will -produce a similar effect; this is a spontaneous reproduction, and not -the intentional forgery of a language. - -Such a forgery, even if it could remain undetected, which it cannot in -our times, would but furnish a curious proof of human ingenuity, to -which no bounds can be assigned; but the true and sole object of a -language could never be attained by it; because, never would a great -number of independent men be disposed, nor could they be forced, to -adopt the vocabulary, grammar, and locutions of a single man, and -appropriate them to themselves for the perpetual expression of their -inmost mind, and for the exchange of their mutual feelings and -ideas.[38] To effect this, is a miracle ascribed to the Divinity, and -with justice; being the evident result of the Heaven-bestowed faculty -of speech, one of the perpetual miracles of the world. - -Of this a prophet must avail himself who announces to the world the -important intelligence of a heavenly revelation. The great purpose of -his sacred mission implies the widest possible proclamation of his -doctrine in a language generally intelligible, which a forged language -never can be. If, as was surmised,[39] the Desátir be set up as a -rival to the Koran, it must have been written in a national language -for a nation; the Persians owned as theirs the _Mahabadian_ religion, -the identical one which history, although not under the same name, -attributes to them in remote ages, as will result from an examination -of the doctrine itself. - -Considering the knowledge required, and the difficulties to be -overcome in forging a language in such a manner as to impose, even for -a time, upon the credulity of others, we shall conclude that nothing -less than direct proof is requisite for establishing such a forgery as -a real fact. Now, what arguments have been set forth for declaring the -language of the Desátir to be nothing else than “an artificial idiom -invented to support an imposture?” - -Silvestre de Sacy says:[40] “It is difficult indeed, not to perceive -that the multiplied relations which exist between the _Asmáni_, -‘heavenly,’ and Persian languages are the result of a systematic -operation, and not _the effect of hazard_, nor _that of time, which -proceeds with less regularity in the alterations to which language is -subjected_.” - -I must apologise for here interrupting this celebrated author, for the -purpose of referring to what nobody better than himself has -established as a peremptory condition of existence for any language, -and what he certainly never meant to deny, but may perhaps here be -supposed to forget――namely, that a language is not “the effect of -hazard,” and although “not the result of systematic combination,” yet, -as an instinctive creation, shows surprising regularity, and that an -evident rule predominates in the alterations which time produces in -languages. - -Silvestre de Sacy proceeds: “The grammar of the Mahabadian language is -evidently, for the whole etymological part, and even (which is -singularly striking) in what concerns the anomalous verbs, traced from -(_calquée sur_) the Persian grammar, and as to the radical words, if -there be many of them the origin of which is unknown, there is also a -great number of them in which the Persian root, more or less altered, -may be recognised without any effort.” - -Erskine examined, without the least communication with the French -critic, the Mahabadian language, and says:[41] “In its grammar it -approaches very nearly to the modern Persian, as well in the -inflection of the nouns and verbs, as in its syntax.” Norris[42] takes -the very same view of it. - -These highly respectable critics published their judgment upon the -Mahabadian language before the comparison of several languages with -the Sanscrit and between each other had been made by able philologers, -creators of the new science of comparative philology. According to the -latter, the proofs of the real affinity of language, that is, the -proofs that two languages belong to the same family, are to be -principally and can be properly deduced, from their grammatical -system. Thus, for instance, the forms of the Greek and Latin languages -are in several parts nearly identical with the Sanscrit, the first -bearing a greater resemblance in one respect, the latter in another; -the Greek verbs in _mi_, the Latin declension of some nouns appear, to -use the expression of the illustrious author, “traced from each other -(_calqués l’un sur l’autre_).” These two languages seem to have -divided between them the whole system of the ancient grammar, which is -most perfectly preserved in the Sanscrit. This language itself is -probably, with the two mentioned, derived from a more ancient -language; we meet in them three sisters recognised by their striking -likeness. This, although more or less weakened and even obliterated in -some features, remains upon the whole still perceptible in a long -series of their relations: I mean in all those languages which are -distinguished by the name of _Indo-germanic_, to which the Persian -belongs. - -But, in deciding upon the affinity of languages, not only the -grammatical forms are to be examined, but also the system of sounds is -to be studied, and the words must be considered in their roots and -derivations. The three critics mentioned agree that the language of -the Desátir is very similar to the Persian or Deri, not only in -grammar, but also in etymology; a great number of the verbal and -nominal roots are the same in both. This similarity would, according -to comparative philology, lead to the conclusion that either the one -is derived from the other, or that both proceed from a common parent; -but nothing hitherto here alleged can justify the supposition of -invention, forgery, or fabrication of the so-called Mahabadian -language. - -We continue to quote the strictures of Silvestre de Sacy: “There is -however a yet stronger proof of the systematic operation which -produced the factitious idiom. This proof I derive from the perfect -and constant identity which prevails between the Persian phraseology -and that of the Mahabadian idiom. The one and the other are, whenever -the translation does not degenerate into paraphrase or commentary, -which frequently happens, traced from each other (_calqués l’un sur -l’autre_) in such a manner that each phrase, in both, has always the -same number of words, and these words are always arranged in the same -order. For producing such a result, we must admit two idioms, the -grammar of which should be perfectly alike, as weil with respect to -the etymological part as to the syntax, and their respective -dictionaries offering precisely the same number of words, whether -nouns, verbs, or particles: which would suppose two nations, having -precisely the same number of ideas, whether absolute or relative, and -conceiving but the same kind and the same number of relations.” - -If what we have already stated be not unfounded, the last quoted -paragraph, which the author calls “a yet stronger proof of the -systematic operations which produced the factitious idiom” must be -acknowledged not to have the weight which he would attribute to it. If -the Mahabadian and Persian be languages related to each other, “a -perfect and constant identity of phraseology between them both,” if -even so great as it is said to be, is not only possible, but may be -fairly expected in the avowed translation of the Desátir into Persian. -Such identity is most religiously aimed at in versions of a sacred -text. Need I adduce modern examples of translations which, in point of -phraseological conformity with their original, may vie with the -Persian version of the Mahabadian text? The supposition that two -nations have the same number of ideas, absolute or relative, is far -from being absurd: it is really the fact with all nations who are upon -the same level of civilisation; but the present question is of the -writings of the same nation, which, possessing at all times a sort of -government and religion fundamentally the same, might easily count an -obsolete language of its own among the monuments of its antiquity. - -On that account, we cannot see what the former arguments of the critic -gain in strength by the addition: “that the perfect identity of -conception falls in a very great part upon abstract and metaphysical -ideas, in which such a coincidence is infinitely more difficult than -when the question is only of objects and relations perceptible to the -senses.”――A great similarity is remarked in all forms of thinking. -Little chance of being contradicted can be incurred in saying, that -the fundamental ideas of metaphysics are common to all mankind, and -inherent in human reason. The encyclopedian contents of the Dabistán, -concerning the opinions of so many nations, would furnish a new proof -of it, were this generally acknowledged fact in need of any further -support. - -Silvestre de Sacy acknowledges that the Asmáni language contains a -great number of radical words, the origin of which is not known. -Erskine says:[43] “It is certainly singular that the language in which -the Desátir is written, like that in which the Zend-Avesta is -composed, is no where else to be met with. It is not derived from the -Zend, the Pehlevi, the Sanscrit, Arabic, Turkish, Persian, or any -other known language.” * * * * * * The basis of the language, and the -great majority of words in it, belong to no known tongue. It is a -mixture of Persian and Indian words. A few Arabic words occur.” -Norris[44] also found that a great part of the language appears to -have little resemblance to any other that was ever spoken. A judgment, -so expressed, might induce an impartial mind to ascribe originality to -at least a part of the Asmáni language; which would naturally render -the other part less liable to suspicion, inasmuch as it would have -been not less difficult to execute, but less easy to conceal, a -partial than a total forgery. Nevertheless it so happens that the -dissimilarity from any other, as well as the similarity to one -particular idiom, are both equally turned against the genuineness of -the language in question: where dissimilarity exists, there is -absolute forgery――where similarity, an awkward disguise! - -Erskine continues: “The Persian system it is unnecessary to -particularise; but it is worthy of attention that, among the words of -Indian origin, not only are many Sanscrit, which might happen in a -work of a remote age, but several belong to the colloquial language of -Hindustán: this is suspicious, and seems to mark a much more recent -origin. Many words indeed occur in the Desátir that are common to the -Sanscrit and to the vulgar Indian languages (the author quotes -thirty-four of them); many others might be pointed out. But the most -remarkable class of words is that which belongs to the pure Hindi; -such I imagine are the word _shet_, ‘respectable,’ prefixed to the -names of prophets and others (twenty-four are adduced). Whatever may -be thought of the words of Persian descent, it is not probable that -those from the Hindustaní are of a very remote age; they may perhaps -be regarded as considerably posterior to the settlement of the -Muselmans in India.” - -Strongly supported by the opinion of respectable philologers, I do not -hesitate to draw a quite contrary conclusion from the facts stated by -Erskine. It should be remembered that, in the popular or vulgar -dialects are often found remains of ancient tongues, namely, roots of -words, locutions, nay rules of grammar which have become obsolete, or -disappeared in the cultivated idioms derived from the same original -language. It was not without reason that the illustrious William -Humboldt recommended to the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and -Ireland,[45] to examine, on behalf of general Oriental philology, the -different provincial dialects of India. Even the gibberish of gypsies -is not to be neglected for that purpose.[46] - -Thus, if we are not greatly mistaken, the very arguments alleged to -show that the Mahabadian language is an invention or forgery, lead -rather to a contrary conclusion. Duly sensible of the great weight of -authority which opposes the result of my inquiry, I sought an -explanation of the severe judgment passed upon the Desátir, and -venture to surmise that it was occasioned by the certainly extravagant -claim to a heavenly origin and incredible antiquity which has been -attached to this work. Such pretensions, taken in too serious a light, -can but hurt a fixed, if not religious, belief. Every nation -acknowledges but one heavenly book, and rejects every other. Hence -arises a very natural, and even respectable pre-conception against all -that appears without the limits traced by religion, or mere early -habit and adopted system. Thus a severe censure is provoked. To -annihilate at once the impertinent pretension to a divine origin, all -that ingenuity can suggest is brought forward to prove the book to be -a fraudulent forgery; to strip it of the awful dignity of antiquity, -it must by any means be represented as the work of yesterday. But -error is not fraud, and may be as ancient as mankind itself; because -credulous, a man is not the forger of a document. If the Mahabadian -language is not that primitive idiom from which the Sanscrit, the -Zend, and other languages are derived, it does not follow that it is -“a mere jargon, fabricated with no great address to support a -religious or philosophical imposture;”[47] if it was not spoken in -Iran long before the establishment of the Péshdadian monarchy, it does -not follow “that it has at no time belonged to any tribe or nation on -the face of the earth.” - -However I may appear inclined in favor of the Desátir, I shall avoid -incurring the blame of unfair concealment by adding to the names of -the great critics above quoted, adverse to this work, the great one of -William von Schlegel. I must avow it; the celebrated author declares -the Desátir,[48] intimately connected with the Dabistán, to be “a -forgery still more refined (than that of the Brahman who deceived -Wilford),[49] and written in a pretended ancient language, but -fabricated at pleasure.” As he, however, presents no arguments of his -own, but only appeals in a note to the articles written by Silvestre -de Sacy and Erskine, there is no occasion here for a further -observation concerning this question. As to von Schlegel’s opinion -upon the Dabistán, I reserve some remarks upon it for another place. - -General arguments, opposed to general objections, may produce -persuasion, but are not sufficient for establishing the positive truth -concerning a subject in question. It is necessary to dive into the -Mahabadian language itself for adequate proofs of its genuineness. I -might have justly hesitated to undertake this task, but found it -already most ably achieved by baron von Hammer,[50] in whom we do not -know which we ought to admire most, his vast store of Oriental -erudition, or the indefatigable activity, with which he diffuses, in -an unceasing series of useful works, the various information derived -not only from the study of the dead letter in books, but also from -converse with the living spirit of the actual Eastern world. This -sagacious reviewer of the Desátir, examining its language, finds -proofs of its authenticity in the nature of its structure and the -syllables of its formation, which, when compared to the modern pure -Persian or Derí, have the same relation to it as the Gothic to the -English; the old Persian and the old Germanic idioms exhibit in the -progress of improvement such a wonderful concordance and analogy as -can by no means be the result of an ingenious combination, nor that of -a lucky accidental coincidence. Thus, the language of the Desátir has -syllables of declension affixed to pronouns, which coincide with those -of the Gothic and Low German, but are not recognisable in the modern -form of the Persian pronouns. This is also the case with some forms of -numerical and other words. The Mahabadian language contains also a -good number of Germanic radicals which cannot be attributed to the -well-known affinity of the German and the modern Persian, because they -are no more to be found in the latter, but solely in the Desátir. This -has besides many English, Greek, and Latin words, a series of which -baron von Hammer exhibits, and――which ought to be duly noticed――a -considerable number of Mahabadian words, belonging also to the -languages enumerated, are sought in vain in any Persian dictionary of -our days! Surely, an accidental coincidence of an invented factitious -language, with Greek, Latin, and Germanic forms would be by far a -greater and more inexplicable miracle, than the great regularity of -this ancient sacred idiom of Persia, and its conformity with the -modern Deri. It is nevertheless from the latter that the forgery is -chiefly inferred. - -Moreover, the acute philologer, analysing the Mahabadian language by -itself, points out its essential elements and component parts, that -is, syllables of derivation, formation, and inflexion. Thus he adduces -as syllables of derivation certain vowels, or consonants preceded by -certain vowels; he shows certain recurring terminations to be -syllables of formation for substantives, adjectives, and verbs; he -sets forth particular forms of verbs, and remarkable expressions. All -this he supports by numerous examples taken from the text of the -Desátir. Such a process enabled him to rectify in some places the -Persian translation of the Mahabadian text. - -I can but repeat that my only object here is to present the question -in the same state that I found it; and am far from contesting, nay, -readily admit, the possibility of arguments which may lead to a -contrary conclusion. Until such are produced, although not presuming -to decide, I may be permitted to believe that the language of the -Desátir is no forgery; I may range myself on the side of the -celebrated Orientalist mentioned, who, ten years after the date of his -review of the Desátir (ten years which, with him, are a luminous path -of ever-increasing knowledge), had not changed his opinion upon the -language of the Desátir, and assigns to it[51] a place among the -Asiatic dialects; according to him, as it is more nearly related to -the new Persian than to the Zand and the Pehlevi, it may be considered -as a new intermediate ring in the hermetic chain which connects the -Germanic idioms with the old Asiatic languages; it is perhaps the most -ancient dialect of the Deri,[52] spoken, if not in Fars, yet in the -north-eastern countries of the Persian empire, to wit, in Sogd and -Bamian. When it ceased to be spoken, like several other languages of -by-gone ages, the Mahabádian was preserved perhaps in a single book, -or fragment of a book, similar in its solitude to the Hebrew Bible, or -the Persian Zend-Avesta. - - -At what epoch was the Desátir written? - -The epoch assigned to it, according to different views, is the -sixth[53] or the seventh[54] century of our era, even the later time -of the Seljucides, who reigned from A. D. 1037 to 1193. The latter -epoch is adopted as the earliest assignable, by Silvestre de Sacy, who -alleges two reasons for his opinion: the one is his belief that the -new Persian language, in which the Desátir was translated and -commented by the fabricator of the original or Mahabadian text did not -exist earlier; the second reason refers to some parts of the contents -of the Desátir. I shall touch upon both these questions. - -It is useless to discuss what can never be ascertained, who the author -of the Desátir was. But this work would be unintelligible without the -Persian translation and commentary. Silvestre de Sacy asks: “Are not -this translation and this commentary, themselves pseudonymous and -apocryphal books, and is not the whole, perhaps, the work of an -impostor of the last century?” In answering this, I shall be guided by -the baron von Hammer, who wrote his review of the Desátir before he -had seen that of the _Journal des Savans_, but, after having perused -the latter, declared that he had nothing to change in his opinion. -Although the commentator, to whom the honor of being the inventor of -the Mahabadian language is ascribed, follows in the main the ancient -text word for word, and substitutes commonly a new for the obsolete -form of the term, yet frequent instances occur (some of which baron -von Hammer adduces) which prove that the interpreter did not clearly -understand the old text, but in place of the true meaning gave his own -arbitrary interpretation. The proper names even are not always the -same. Besides――and this is most important――the doctrines contained in -the Desátir and in the Commentary differ from each other. In the books -of the first Mahabadian kings we find the fundamental ideas of the -Oriental philosophy, such as it was before its migration from Asia to -Europe; but in the commentary we perceive the development of the -Aristotelian scholastic, such as it formed itself among the Asiatics, -when they had, by means of translations, become acquainted with the -Stagirite. We shall revert to this subject hereafter. Whatever it -be――the discrepancies between the original text and the -interpretation, as they would certainly have been avoided by the -author of both, prove that they are the works of two different -persons, probably with the interval of a few centuries between them. - -The Persian translator and commentator is said to be the fifth Sassan, -who lived in the time of the Persian king Khusro-Parviz, a -contemporary of the Roman emperor Heraclius, and died only nine years -before the destruction of the ancient Persian monarchy, or in the year -643 of our era. It must be presumed that the five Sassans, the first -of whom was a contemporary of Alexander, 323 years before Christ, were -not held to be immediate successors to each other, but only in the -same line of descent; otherwise an interval of 946 years, from -Alexander to Parviz, comprehending the reign of thirty-one Arsacides -and twenty-two Sassanian princes, would be given to no more than five -individuals, which absurdity ought not to be attributed to the -commentary of the Desátir. In general, so common is it with Asiatics -to deal with names of celebrity as if they were generic names, that it -is very frequently impossible to be positive about the true author of -a work. There appears in the present case nothing to prevent us from -placing the translator and commentator of the Desátir (whether a -Sassan or not) in the seventh century of our era. - -The translation and commentary of the Desátir are written in what the -best judges consider as very pure Persian, though ancient, without any -mixture whatever of words of Arabic or Chaldean origin, and -conformable to the grammatical system of modern Persian. But when was -the latter formed?――As the opinion upon this epoch involves that upon -the age of the composition itself, I shall be permitted to take a -rather extensive historical view of this part of the question. - -Setting aside the Mahabadian kings mentioned in the Desátir and -Dabistán, we know that Gilshah, Hoshang, Jamshid (true Persian names) -are proclaimed by all Orientalists as founders of the Persian empire -and builders of renowned cities in very remote times. This empire -comprised in its vast extent different nations, speaking three -principal languages, the Zand, Pehlevi, and Parsi. Among these nations -were the _Persæ_, “Persians,” properly and distinctively so called. We -are informed by Herodotus[55] that there were different races of -Persæ, of whom he enumerates eleven. Those who inhabited originally -_Fars_, _Farsistan_, _Persis_,[56] a country double the extent of -England, and gave their name to the whole empire, certainly spoke -their own idiom, the _Parsi_ or _Farsi_. A national language may vary -in its forms, but never can be destroyed as long as any part of the -nation exits; can we doubt that the Persians who, once the masters of -Asia, although afterwards shorn of their power, never ceased to be -independent and formidable, preserved their language to our days? - -We may consider as remains of the oldest Persian language, the proper -and other names of persons, places and things mentioned by the most -ancient historians; now, a number of such words, which occur in the -Hebrew Bible,[57] in Herodotus, and other Greek authors, are much -better explained from modern Persian than from Zand and Pehlevi. In -the Armenian language exist words common to the Persian, none common -to the Pehlevi;[58] therefore, in very remote times Persian and not -Pehlevi was the dominant idiom of the Iranian nations with whom the -Armenians were in relation. More positive information is reserved for -posterity, when the cuneiform inscriptions upon the monumental rocks -and ruins, to be found in all directions within the greatest part of -Asia, shall be deciphered by future philologers, not perhaps -possessing greater talent, but better means of information from -all-revealing time than those of our days, who have already -successfully begun the great work――Grotefend, Rask, St. Martin, -Burnouf, Lassen, etc. - -Let us now take a hasty review of a few principal epochs of the -Persian empire, with respect to language, beginning only from that -nearest the time, in which Persia was seen and described by Herodotus, -Ctesias, and Xenophon, not without reference to the then existing -national historical records. Khosru (Cyrus) the Persian King, placed -by the Occidentals in the seventh century before our era,[59] having -wrested the sceptre from the hands of the Medes, who spoke Pehlevi, -naturally produced the ascendancy of his national idiom. This did not -sink under his immediate successors, Lohrasp and Gushtasp. Although -under the reign of the latter, who received Zardusht at his court in -the sixth century B. C.,[60] the Zand might have had great currency, -yet it certainly declined after Gushtasp, as his grandson Bahman, the -son of Isfendiar, favored the cultivation of the Parsi.[61] This -language was perfected in Baktria (the original name of which country -is _Bákhter_, “East,” an old Persian word) and in the neighboring -Transoxiana; there the towns _Bamian_, the Thebes of the East, and -_Balkh_, built by Lohrasp and sanctified by Gushtasp’s famous Pyræum, -besides _Merv_ and _Bokhára_, were great seats of Persian arts and -sciences. The Parsi, thus refined, was dominant in all the royal -residences, which changed according to seasons and circumstances; it -was spoken at the court of the Second _Dara_ (Darius Codomanus), and -sounds in his own name and that of his daughters _Sitára_ (Statira), -“star,” and _Roshana_ (Roxana), “splendor,” whom the unfortunate king -resigned with his empire to Alexander.[62] This conqueror, intoxicated -with power, endeavored to exterminate the Mobeds, the guardians of the -national religion and science; he slew many, but dispersed only the -majority. From the death of Alexander (323 B. C.) to the reign of -Ardeshir Babegan (Artaxerxes), the founder of the Sassanian dynasty -(200 A. D.), a period of more than five centuries is almost a blank in -the Persian history; but when the last-mentioned king, the regenerator -of the ancient Iranian monarchy, wishing to restore its laws and -literature, convoked the Mobeds, he found forty thousand of them -before the gate of the fire-temple of Barpa.[63] Ammianus Marcellinus, -in the fourth century of our era attests, that the title of king was -in _Deri_, “court-language,” yet the Pehlevi was spoken concurrently -with it during the reigns of the first twelve Sassanian princes, until -it was proscribed by a formal edict of the thirteenth of them, _Bahram -gor_, in our fifth century. Nushirvan and Parviz, in the sixth -century, were both celebrated for the protection which they granted to -arts and sciences. We have on record a school of physic, poetry, -rhetoric, dialectics, and abstract sciences, flourishing at Gandi -sapor, a town in Khorasan: the Persian must have then been highly -cultivated. We are now in the times of Muhammed; were they not -_Persian_, those Tales, the charm of which, whether in the original or -in the translation, was such, that the Arabian legislator, to -counteract it, summoned up the power of his high-sounding -heaven-inspired eloquence, and wrote a part of the Koran against them? -If he himself had not named the Deri as the purest dialect of the -Persian, what other language could we believe he admired for its -extreme softness so much as to say, that the Almighty used it when he -wished to address the angels in a tone of mildness and beneficence, -whilst he reserved the Arabic for command?[64] Such a fact, or such a -tradition, presupposes a refined, and therefore long-spoken language. -After Muhammed’s death, his fanatic successors attempted to bury under -the ruins of the Persian empire even the memory of its ancient -religion and language――but they did not succeed: the sacred fire was -saved and preserved beyond the Oxus; it was rekindled in Baktria, that -ancient hearth of Persian splendor; there poetry and eloquence -revived, but could not raise their voices until princes of Persian -origin became lieutenants of the Mohammedan khalifs. It was under -Nasr, son of Ahmed the Samanian, in the beginning of our tenth -century, that RUDIGI rose, the first celebrated new Persian poet, but -he found, he did not create the language, more than Homer created -Greek, Dante Italian, or Spenser English. A great author, in whom the -genius of his nation is concentrated, does no more than aptly collect -into a whole the idiom which exists every where in parts, and elicit -its pre-existing resources. Thus under his pen the language can appear -to spring up with all its beauties――as Minerva, equipped in armour, -sprung forth from the head of Jupiter. - -Such being the historical indications relative to the Persian -language, we cannot participate in the doubts of Silvestre de Sacy, -nor find Erskine[65] just in disdaining even to make a comment upon -the credibility of the hypothesis “that the Persian language was -completely formed in the age of the latter Sassanians.” It would be -rather a matter of wonder that the Parsi, related to the most ancient -and most cultivated language in the world, should not have been much -sooner fitted for the harmonious lays of Ferdusi!――a matter of wonder -indeed, that the Persians, who taught the Arabs so much of their -religion――heaven and hell, should have remained behind them in the -refinement of their idiom!――that they, who could scoff at the _Tazis_ -as eaters of lizards, should not have possessed, in the seventh -century, a language to contend with that people, who themselves -possessed celebrated poets long before Muhammed![66] - -It is for ever regrettable that overpowering Muhammedism should have -spoiled the original admirable simplicity of one of the softest -languages in the world, by the intrusion of the sonorous but harsher -words of Arabic, and imposed upon us the heavy tax of learning two -languages for understanding one; but, as the translation of the -Desátir is free from words of an Arabic or Chaldean origin, should we -not fairly conclude, that it was executed before the Muhammedan -conquest of Persia? So did Norris, and so Erskine――I can but -think――would have done, if his judgment and penetration, usually so -right and acute, had not been prepossessed by the idea of an -imposture, which he had assumed as proved or self-evident, whilst this -was the very point of contestation. Thus, “the very freedom from words -of foreign growth, which the learned natives consider as a mark of -authenticity, appeared to him the proof of an artificial and -fabricated style.” - -If even there are some Arabic words to be found in the text and the -translation of the Desátir, this affords no fair inference that these -works had not been composed before the Arabs conquered Persia, because -those words might have come from Pehlevi, in which there is a mixture -of Arabic, and there are also Persian words in the Koran; most -naturally, as there subsisted from times immemorial relations between -Persia and Arabia. - -What I have said will, if I am not mistaken, sufficiently justify the -conclusion, that the Persian idiom could in the seventh century have -attained the regularity and form of the present Persian, such at -least, as it appears in the Commentary of the Desátir, not without a -very perceptible tincture of obsoleteness. - -I need scarce remark that the title _asmáni_, “heavenly,” belongs -exclusively to the superstitious admiration with which the Desátir is -viewed. Nor are its fifteen books to be taken for sacred works of so -many prophets who succeeded each other after such long intervals of -time; yet nothing prevents us, as I hope to show, from believing some -parts of them very ancient. Neither are these of the same antiquity. -Thus, prophecies which are certainly interpolations made after the -events, occur in them, not otherwise than in the Indian Puránas, the -fundamental parts of which are nevertheless now admitted to be as -ancient as the Vedas themselves. We find in the two last books of the -Desátir are mentioned: the contest between the Abbasides and the -descendants of Ali; the adoption of Muhammedism by almost the totality -of Iran; inimical sects, and the power of the Turcomans superseding -that of the Arabs; the latter parts must certainly have been composed -after the taking of Bagdád by Hulogu in 1258 of our era. The fifteenth -book of the Desátir is probably apocryphal. - -As to the doctrine of the Desátir, Erskine says:[67] “I consider that -the whole of the peculiar doctrines, ascribed to Mahabad and Hoshang, -is borrowed from the mystical doctrines of the Persian Súfis, and from -the ascetic tenets and practices of the Yogis and Sanyasis, of India -who drew many of their opinions from the Vedanta-school.” But this -involves the great historical question, concerning the origin of -Súfism and the whole Indian philosophy, which is by some (not without -foundation) believed to have been spread throughout a great part of -Asia. It is quite gratuitous, I may say, to regard them “as having had -no existence before the time of Azar Kaivan[68] and his disciples in -the reigns of Akbar and Jehanguir, and as having been devised and -reduced into form between 200 and 300 years ago in the school of -Sipasi-philosophers.” Nor can I admit as better founded the following -insinuations of the same ingenious critic: “Nor shall I inquire -whether many of the acute metaphysical remarks that abound in the -commentary and the general style of argument which it employs have not -rather proceeded from the schoolmen of the West, than directly from -the Oriental or Aristotelian philosophy.” To this may be answered: It -is highly problematic, whether the translator of the Desátir ever knew -any schoolman of the West, but it is certain that he, as an Asiatic -and a Persian, knew the Oriental philosophy, the fundamentals of which -were preserved in the first books of the Desátir, as we have already -said; but the commentator could but participate in the modification, -which the ancient doctrine had undergone in his age, after its return -from the West to the East, in translations of Greek philosophical -works into Asiatic languages. Thus, in the Desátir and its -commentary――I borrow the words of baron von Hammer:――“We see already -germinating the double seed of reason and light, from which sprung up -the double tree of rational and ideal philosophy,”[69] which spread -its ramifications over the whole world, and lives and flourishes even -in our times. - -The commentator was no ordinary man: living, as we may believe, in the -first half of the seventh century, he possessed the sciences of his -learned age; flourishing under the reign of king Khosru Parviz, who -professed the ancient Persian religion in his letter to a Roman -emperor of the East,[70] and tore to pieces Muhammed’s written -invitation to adopt Islam[71]; in this yet unshaken state of national -independence, the fifth Sassan preserved pure his creed and style from -the influence of the Arabian prophet. The translator and commentator -of the Desátir says of himself:[72] “I too have written a celebrated -book under the name of _Do giti_, ‘the two worlds’, full of admirable -wisdom, which I have derived from the most exalted intelligence, and -in the eminent book of the famous prophet, the King of Kings, Jemshid, -there is a great deal, concerning the unity which only distinguished -Asceties (_Hertasp_) can comprehend, and on the subject of this -transcendant knowledge I have also composed a great volume _Pertú -están_, ‘the mansion of light,’ which I have adorned by evidence -deduced from reason, and by texts from the _Desátir_ and _Avesta_, so -that _the soul of every man_ may derive pleasure from it. And it is -one of the books of the secrets of the great God.” - -This is a most important declaration. The commentator considered the -Desátir and the Avesta as sources of delight TO ALL MEN. And he was -right. The doctrine of the former work now under consideration is -found every where, not denied either by the ancients or moderns; it is -the property of mankind. As such, “_it does not belong to any -particular tribe or nation_:” in which point, although in quite -another sense, we agree with Erskine, but we may dissent from the -learned author, when he taxes it to be “a religious or philosophical -imposture, which needed the support of a fabricated language.” After -careful examination, I must conscientiously declare, I discover no -imposture aimed at by any artifice; there was no secret to be -concealed; nothing to be disguised; the Mahabadian religion is as open -as its temple, the vault of heaven, and as clear as the lights, -flaming in their ethereal attitudes; its book is a sort of catechism -of Asiatic religion; its prayer a litany of Oriental devotion, in -which any man may join his voice. - -Thus have I endeavored, to the best of my power, to exhibit faithfully -what has hitherto been alleged for and against the authenticity of the -book, which is one of the principal authorities of the Dabistán. If -the author of this latter work was, as the often-quoted ingenuous -author supposes, “in strict intimacy with the sects of enthusiasts by -whom the Desátir was venerated, and whose rule it was,” we may so much -the more rely upon the truth of his account concerning such a -religious association. If he professed the new religion, which the -emperor Akbar had endeavored to found, as this was a revival of the -ancient Persian religion, we may reasonably presume, that he would -have searched, and brought to light writings concerning it which were -concealed, neglected, or little known; he would have cautiously -scrutinized the authenticity of the documents, and conscientiously -respected the sacred sources of that faith, which, after a careful -examination of all others, deserved his preference; nothing justifies -the supposition, that he would forge any thing himself, or -countenance, or not be able to detect, the forgery of others. However -this be, Mohsan Fani’s character will be best known by the perusal of -his work; after a rapid synopsis of its contents, to which I will now -proceed, I shall be permitted to point out, as briefly as possible, -some of the merits and defects conspicuous in his composition. - - - [20] See note, vol. I. p. 20. - - [21] Ibid., p. 44. - - [22] Calcutta edition, p. 30, line 6. - - [23] See vol. I. p. 534. - - [24] _Ibid._, p. 65. - - [25] M. Eugène Burnouf, to whose most valuable judgment I - had the pleasure to submit the question, prefers the - derivation from _bhásh_, because this word in Zend would be - _wâsh_, as the Zend _w_ represents exactly the Sanscrit - _bh_, which aspiration did not exist in the ancient idiom of - Bactrian Asia. This sagacious philologer hinted at a - comparison with the Persian _usta_, or _awesta_, upon which - in a subsequent note. - - [26] See the Persian text of the Dasátir, p. 377. - - [27] _Tableau de l’Empire ottoman_, by M. d’Ohson, t. II. p. - 70. - - [28] _Journal des Savans_, _février_ 1821, p. 74. The - Persian passage which de Sacy quotes, and in which there is - _Destánir_ for _Dasátir_, is taken from the text published - by Gladwin, and not from the printed Calcutta edition. - - [29] See Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British - India and its Dependencies, vol. VIII., from July to Dec. - 1819, p. 357. - - [30] The _Desátir_, or sacred writings of the ancient - Persian prophets in the original tongue; with the ancient - Persian version, and commentary of the fifth Sasan; - published by Mulla Firuz Bin-i-Kaus. Bombay, 1818. Mulla - Firuz is supposed to possess the only copy of the Desátir - extant. He allowed sir John Malcolm to take a copy of it, - which, by some accident, was lost by Doctor Leyden――(See - Transact. of the Lit. Soc. of Bombay, pp. 342 and 349). - - [31] Mohsan Fani marks the time of his composing the - Dabistan (vol. II. p. 50) to be the year of the Hejira 1055 - (A. D. 1645). - - [32] See _Journal des Savans_, No. for January, 1821, p. 16. - - [33] Lucretius, book V., Transl. of Dr. Creech: - “―― ―― putare aliquem tum nomina distribuisse - Rebus, et inde homines didicisse vocabula prima - Desipere est.” - - [34] Richardson’s Dictionary, preface, lxvii. - - [35] This man, who never told his true name, was from the - age of fifteen to seventeen a private teacher――then passed - for an Irishman――went to Rome as a pilgrim with a habit - stolen from before an altar where it was lying as a votive - offering of another pilgrim――wandered about in Germany, - Brabant, Flanders――indolent, abject, shameless, covered with - vermin and sores――entered the military service of Holland, - which he left to become waiter in a coffee-house in - Aix-la-Chapelle――enlisted in the troops of the elector of - Cologne. He acted all these parts, with those - above-mentioned, before he was baptised under the name of - George, by a Scotch clergyman, and, having learned English, - passed over to England to be protected by Compton, the - lord-bishop of London. At the expense of the latter, he - studied at Oxford――became a preceptor――chaplain of a - regiment――fell back into indolence, and lived upon - alms.――(See A New and General Dictionary, London, 1798, vol. - XII; and _Vie de plusieurs Personnages célèbres des Temps - anciens et modernes, par C. A. Walckenaer, membre de - l’Institut, tome II._ 1830.) - - [36] This change took place in his thirty-second year――he - learned Hebrew and became an honest man, esteemed by Samuel - Johnson; he wrote eleven articles in a well-known work, the - Universal History, and his own Life at the age of - seventy-three years; the latter work was published after his - death, which happened in his eighty-fourth year, in 1763. - - [37] See _Notices et Extraits des Manuscrits_, vol. IX. pp. - 365-396. - - [38] I am here applying to the forger of a language what - Lucretius, in continuation of his above quoted verses (p. - xxx), urges against the belief that a single individual - could ever have been the inventor of human speech. - - [39] By Norris, _Asiatic Journal_, vol. IX., November, 1820, - p. 430. - - [40] _Journal des Savans_, February, 1821, pp. 69-70. - - [41] See Transact. of the Lit. Soc. of Bombay, vol. II.: “On - the Authenticity of the Desátir, with remarks on the Account - of the Mahabadi Religion contained in the Dabistan,” by - William Erskine, esq., p. 360. - - [42] The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British - India and its Dependencies, Novemb. 1820, p. 421 _et seq._ - - [43] The work quoted, p. 360. - - [44] The Asiatic Journal, November, 1820, p. 421 _et seq._ - - [45] An Essay on the best means of ascertaining the - affinities of Oriental languages, by baron W. Humboldt, in - the Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great - Britain and Ireland, vol. II. part I. p. 213. - - [46] Colonel Harriot on the Oriental Origin of the Gypsies. - _Ibid._, 518. - - [47] Erskine, _loco cit._, p. 372. - - [48] See _Réflexions sur l’Étude des Langues asiatiques, - adressées à sir James Mackintosh_. Bonn, 1832, pp. 51-52. - - [49] See Asiatic Researches, vol. VIII. Lond. ed. 8. p. 254. - - [50] See _Heidelberger Jahrbücher der Literatar Vom Jänner - te Juni 1823_, Nᵒˢ 6. 12. 13. 18. 20. - - [51] See _Journal asiatique, tome XII. juillet 1833_, pp. - 24-26. - - [52] _Ibidem_, pp. 20-21. Deri was spoken on the other side - of the Oxus, and at the foot of the Paropamisus in Balkh, - Meru, in the Badakhshan, in Bokhara and Bamian. The Pehlevi - was used in Media proper, in the towns of Rai, Hamadan, - Ispahan, Nehawend, and Tabriz, the capital of Azar - bíján.――Beside the Deri and Pehlevi, Persian dictionaries - reckon five other dialects, altogether twelve dialects, of - ancient and modern Persian. - - [53] _Tholuck_. _Sufismus, sive Theosophia Pantheistica_, p. - 111. - - [54] Norris, Asiatic Journal, November, 1820, p. 430. - - [55] Clio, lib. I. - - [56] In the Bible it is called Paras, or Faras, and reckoned - as extensive as Great and Little Armenia, or as Hungary, - Transylvania, Slavonia, Croatia, and Dalmatia together.――(See - _Gatterer’s Weltgeschichte II^{ter} Theil, Seite 9_.) - - [57] In the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. - - [58] See _Observations sur les Monumens historiques de - l’ancienne Perse, par Étienne Quatremère_. _Journal des - Savans_, _juin et juillet_ 1840, pp. 347-348. - - [59] The Orientals place him in the tenth century B. C. - - [60] According to Richardson (see the preface of his Dict., - p. vi), the Farsi was peculiarly cultivated by the great and - learned, above 1200 years before the Muhammedan era, _i. e._ - above 600 years B. C., which epoch is commonly assigned to - Gushtasp’s reign. - - [61] See Hammer’s _Schöne Redekünste Persiens, Seite 3 et - seq._ - - [62] Strabo, who flourished in the beginning of the - Christian era, and drew his information mostly from the - historians of Alexander, refers probably to the time of the - Macedonian conquest, when he says (xv. 2, § 8, fol. 724, - edit. Cas.): that the Medians, Persians, Arians, Baktrians, - and Sogdians spoke almost the same language. This probably - was that of the then leading nation, the Persian. - - [63] Hammer, _loc. cit._, p. 7. - - [64] Works of sir W. Jones, vol. V. p. 426, Transactions of - the Literary Society of Bombay, vol. II. p. 297. - - [65] _Loco cit._, p. 363. - - [66] See the preface to the most valuable work _Le Divan - d’Amro’lkais_, par le baron Mac Guckin de Slane, Paris, - 1837, pp. viii and ix. The learned author confirms that - celebrated Arabian poems existed before the introduction of - the Muhammedan religion, which, for a certain time, averted - the Arabs from the cultivation of poetry and history. We - shall here add (which would have been more appropriately - placed in the note upon Amro’lKais, in vol. III p. 65, and - will correct the same) that this poet (see _loc. cit._, p. - xvi _et seq._) flourished at an epoch anterior to Muhammed, - and died probably before the birth of that extraordinary man. - - [67] _Loco citato_, p. 372. - - [68] See vol. I. pp. 87 _et seq._ - - [69] _Heidelberger Jahrbücher, loc. cit. Seite_ 313. - - [70] The Dabistán (see Pers. text, Calcutta edit., p. 69, - and English transl., vol. I. p. 145) quotes verses - containing this profession, addressed by Khosru Parviz to a - Roman emperor, whose name, however, is not mentioned. During - the reign of this Persian king, two emperors ruled in the - East, namely, Mauritius, whose daughter Parviz married, - and Heraclius, by whom he was defeated towards the end of - his life. I found it probable, but had no authority to - assert (see vol. I. p. 145, note 2), that the above-stated - profession was made to Mauritius; but those verses by - themselves deserve attention, as they establish the adherence - of Parviz to the religion of Hoshang, in contradiction to - several historians, according to whom he adopted Christianity: - this assertion seems founded upon his great attachment to - the celebrated _Mary_, or _Chirín_, his Christian wife, and - daughter of a Christian emperor, the said Mauritius. - - [71] Muhammed, when informed of the ignominious reception - which the Persian king gave to his letter and ambassador, - said: “God will tear his empire, as he tore my letter, to - pieces.”――(Herbelot.) - - [72] The Desátir, p. 99. - - - - -PART II. - -SYNOPSIS OF THE DYNASTIES, RELIGIONS, SECTS, AND PHILOSOPHIC OPINIONS, -TREATED OF IN THE DABISTAN. - - -§ I.――THE FIRST RELIGION――THE DYNASTIES OF MAHABAD, ABAD AZAR, SHAI -ABAD, SHAI GILIV, SHAI MAHBUL, AND YASAN. - -Mohsan Fani exhibits the remarkable notions, dogmas, customs, and -ceremonies of twelve religions, and their various sects, without -giving more of their origin and genesis than the names of their -founders. The very first principle of all religion is referred, by -some, to a primitive Divine revelation; by others, to a natural -propensity of the human mind to superstition. However this may be, -history confirms the suggestions of psychology, that admiration was -one of the principal sources of religious feelings; how should man not -be struck with the glories of the sky? Therefore, the adoration of -stars was one of the most ancient religions. It needed no prophet: it -is “_the poetry of heaven_,” imprinted in eternal characters of fire -upon the ethereal expanse. Prometheus, enumerating the benefits which -he bestowed upon untutored barbarians, says:[73] - - “―― ―― ―― At random all their works - Till I instructed them to mark the stars, - Their rising, and, a harder science yet, - Their setting.”[74] - -According to all traditions, astronomy was one of the first sciences -cultivated by men.[75] The stars not only occasioned the institution, -but also served to announce the regular return, of religious feasts; -thus they became, as called by Plato, “the instruments of time,” men -were at once induced and taught by religion to count months and years. -Astronomy, in her feast-calendars, consecrated upon an altar the first -fruits of her labors. - -Upon the star-paved path of heaven man was conducted to the sanctuary -of the supreme Being. In general, the first feeling of “the Divine (το -θεῖον),” seizing the human mind with its own supernatural power, -elevated it at once above the material concerns of the nether world; -thus, sublime ideas of the Deity, the universe, and the immortality of -the soul preceded the invention of many arts and sciences relative to -the comforts of social life. This is confirmed by the account, -contained in the Dabistán, of the most ancient religion of the -Persians, which is founded upon transcendental ideas of the Divinity: -“Except God himself, who can comprehend his origin? Entity, unity, -identity are inseparable properties of this original essence, and are -not adventitious to Him.” So the Desátir, with which the Dabistán -generally so fully agrees, that we can scarce doubt that the author of -the latter had the former before his eyes. - -No sooner has man acquired the consciousness of mental freedom, than -he endeavors to expand beyond himself the first vague feeling of the -Divine; not satisfied to admire all exterior marvel, he desires to -understand and to name its interior moving cause: this is something -immaterial; it is a soul, such as acts in himself. Among the ancient -Iranians, the “first creation of the existence-bestowing bounty” was -the intellectual principle, called _Azad Bahman_, “the first -intelligence;” he is also the first angel; from him other spirits or -angels proceed. Every star, every heavenly sphere has its particular -intelligence and spirit or angel. In the lower region, each of the -four elements owns its particular guardian; vegetables, minerals, -animals have their protecting angels; the conservative angel of -mankind is _Farun Faro Vakshur_. It is not without reason, that this -religion was called “the religion of light.” As the supreme Being - - “Sow’d with stars the heav’n thick as the field.”[76] - -So also he peopled the vast extent with the “sons of light, the -empyreal host of angels,” who not only moved and governed the -celestial orbs, but also descended into the elemental regions to -direct, promote, and protect his creation. Not a drop of dew fell -without an angel. The Hindus and Greeks animated universal nature; the -Persians imparadized the whole creation by making it the abode of -angels. Hence demonology in all its extent. But, “_among_ the most -resplendent, powerful, and glorious of the servants who are free from -inferior bodies and matter, there is none God’s enemy or rival, or -disobedient, or cast down, or annihilated.” This important passage of -the Desátir[77] I shall have occasion to refer to hereafter. - -Human souls are eternal and infinite; they come from above, and are -spirits of the upper spheres. If distinguished for knowledge and -sanctity, while on earth, they return above, are united with the sun, -and become empyreal sovereigns; but if the proportion of their good -works bore a closer affinity to any other star, they become lords of -the place assigned to that star; their stations are in conformity with -the degrees of their virtue; perfect men attain the beatific vision of -the light of lights, and the cherubine hosts of the supreme Lord. Vice -and depravity, on the contrary, separate souls from the primitive -source of light, and chain them to the abode of the elements: they -become evil spirits. The imperfectly good migrate from one body to -another, until, by the efficacy of good words and actions, they are -finally emancipated from matter, and gain a higher rank. The -thoroughly-depraved descend from the human form to animal bodies, to -vegetable, and even to mineral substances. - -So far we see the well-known dogma of transmigration ingeniously -combined with the Sidereal religion. Here is exhibited a singular -system of heavenly dominion, maintained by every star, whether fixed -or planetary, during periods of many thousand years. A fixed star -begins the revolution, and reigns alone, the king of the cycle, during -a millenium, after which, each of the fixed and planetary stars -becomes its partner or prime-minister for a thousand years; the last -of all is the moon, for a millenium. Then the sovereignty of the first -king devolves to the star which was its first associate. This second -king goes through the same course as the first, until this becomes for -a thousand years his partner, and then his period is also past. The -same is the course of all other stars. When the moon shall have been -king, and all stars associated with it and its reign too past, then -one great period shall be accomplished. The state of the revolving -world recommences, the human beings, animals, vegetables, and -minerals, which existed during the first cycle, are restored to their -former language, acts, dispositions, species, and appearances; the -world is renovated, that is to say, forms, similar to those which -passed away, reappear. This system, copied from the Desátir,[78] -expresses nothing else but the general vague idea of long heavenly -revolutions, and periodical renovations of the same order of things in -the nether world. - -The Dabistán[79] adds a mode of computing as peculiar to the followers -of the ancient faith: they call one revolution of the regent Saturn a -day; thirty such days one month; twelve such months one year; a -million of such years one _fard_; a million fard one _vard_; a million -vard one _mard_; a million vard one _jad_; three thousand jads one -_vad_; and two thousand vád one _zád_. To these I must subjoin -_salam_, _shamar_, _aspar_, _radah_, _aradah_, _raz_, _araz_, -_biaraz_, that is, eight members of a geometric progression, the first -of which is 100,000, and the coefficient 100. But these years are -revolutions, called _farsals_, of thirty common years each. There are -besides farsals of Mars, Venus, Mercury, and the moon, a day of each -being the time of their respective revolution. - -I thought it necessary to repeat these extravagant numbers, because it -is by them that the reigns of the first ancient dynasties are -measured.[80] The first earthly ruler of the present cycle, who with -his wife survived the great period to become the first ancestor of a -new innumerable population, was _Mahabada_. This name seems of -Sanscrit derivation.[81] In his reign we find traced the first -ground-lines of all human societies; agriculture and the arts of life -are invented; villages and cities organised; four classes of society -established――priests, warriors, agriculturists, and tradesmen. The -names of these classes are in the Dabistán much like those of the four -Hindu _castes_, but the Desátir and the Shahnamah have other -denominations, belonging to an ancient Persian dialect,[82] for these -divisions, which originated in the indispensable wants of a rising -society. This institution connects itself with the principles of -social morality: men are bound to each other by the laws of justice -and mutual kindness, which is extended even to all innoxious -creatures. To Mahabad the _Desátir_ was sent, a celestial code, and -his faith was maintained through the whole series of his fourteen -successors; the number of whom reminds us of the fourteen Indian -Manus; they are said to have reigned six hundred and six trillions of -years. - -To the Mahabadians succeeded _Abad Azar_, who soon withdrew from -government, and devoted himself to solitude and piety. After him, the -hitherto fortunate state of society changed into war, confusion, and -anarchy. His son, _Jai Afram_, was called to the throne, and restored -peace and order in the world, giving his name to a new dynasty. After -this, four other princely families are named, that of _Shai Abad_, -_Shai Giliv_, _Shai Mahbul_, and _Yasan_.[83] I shall not count the -many millions of years during which they ruled; all that is said of -their reigns appears nothing but a repetition of the first; a period -of peace, order, and happiness is followed by war, disorder, and -misery, until a revolution renews the state of things. Such traditions -of a progress and regress in virtue and happiness, and of repeated -changes from one condition to another, are not destitute of general -truth. The moral is not, more than the physical world, exempt from -revolutions. These, although their date cannot be determined, have -left behind them undeniable traces, and without a reference to them, -we could not explain so much of the strangeness, incoherence, and -heterogeneity in the history of men and nature. - -Thus I have slightly sketched the principal features of the religion -which prevailed among the first Persian dynasties; these, not -mentioned in other historical books, are we know peculiar to the -Desátir and Dabistán, which appeared to sir W. Jones an -unexceptionable authority for believing the Iranian monarchy “the -oldest in the world.” Upon this, W. Erskine remarked:[84] “Shall I be -forgiven for saying, that the history of letters seems to me scarcely -to afford an instance of a more perverted judgment on historical -evidence?” Silvestre de Sacy[85] too “banishes among the most absurd -fables the dynasties of the Mahabadians, and of their successors, -which sir William Jones, and after him some other Orientalists, have -too hastily adopted, and of which they would to-day blush, since their -titles have been produced.” More recently, William von Schlegel[86] -said: “It would be useless to conceal to the public that that learned -man, endowed with talents so rare, was totally deficient in historical -criticism:” This was inferred, because he had admitted, and used in -some of his considerations, as genuine, a forgery of Wilford’s Pandit. -Besides, “he received without diffidence, and even welcomed with -enthusiasm, the traditions contained in the Dabistán, a modern Persian -book, written with _the intention to claim for Persia the pre-eminence -over India with respect to the antiquity of religious revelations_.” - -As to “the intention” mentioned, I hope to be able to justify Mohsan -Fani. With respect to the Mahabadian dynasties――the light recently -acquired upon the ancient history of Persia, reflect rather favorably -upon that part of sir William Jones’s opinion, that this country, in -its wide extent, was once the original seat of many nations now -settled in distant regions. So much, at least, may be considered as -established: 1. that the limits of history are to be removed further -back than those before fixed; 2. that in the earliest times primitive -nations, related by language to each other, had their origin in the -common elevated country of central Asia, and that the Iranians and -Indians were once united before their migration into Iran and -India.[87] This great fact presents itself, as it were, upon the -border of a vast abyss of unknown times. - -For these a measure was sought. Hence we meet with extravagant, but -perpetually recurring chronological statements. The Mahabadian ages -are neither better nor worse, as to accuracy, than the Indian yugs, -the Chaldean,[88] or other periods. In order to reduce them to their -true value, we must consider them as nothing else than expressions of -the ideas which the ancients entertained of the antiquity of the world -and human society, in which they cannot be easily refuted, and at -least are not absurd. Such ideas originated, when man, curious after -his past, had long ceased to be a listless barbarian; but the earliest -civilisation is a late product of slow-working time, the memory of -which could have been preserved only by monuments. The most ancient of -these however are but recent in our historical knowledge, the limits -of which are far from being those of antiquity. The duration of -ante-historical empires, in printless but extensive spaces of times, -escapes research and computation. As men, however, bear with -impatience vague and loose ideas, the Persians, as well as other -nations, determined the past by numbers formed from the multiplication -of some astronomical periods known in early times, as has been -observed:[89] this appears to me at once the whole truth and falsehood -of those statements. In the utter impossibility to reconcile the -discordant data of different nations, we must content ourselves to -take up the general ideas and facts in which they all agree, whilst in -the particulars they all differ. Thus, in laying down maps of -countries little known, we are satisfied with tracing the general -direction of some rivers and mountains, and abstain from topographical -details. - - - [73] Προμηθευς δεσμωτης, - ―― ―― ―― ―― ἄτης γνώμης τὸ πᾶν - Ἔπρασσον, ἔς τε δή σφιν ἀντολὰς ἐγὼ - Αστρων ἔδειξα, τάς τε δυσκρίτους δύσεις. - (v. 457-459). - - [74] Transl. by Dr. Potter. - - [75] Hyde, who did not know the Dabistán, says (p. 188): - that a year, or calendar, of Median invention was introduced - in Persia, before Jamshid, that is, according to Ferdusi’s - not irrational chronology, earlier than 3429 before our era. - - [76] Milton’s Paradise Lost, b. VII. v. 358. - - [77] The book of Shet Shai Kiliv, v. 59. p. 56. - - [78] Bombay edit. Engl. transl., pp. 19. 20. - - [79] Vol. I. p. 14. The Bombay Desátir does not mention the - revolution of Saturn, and states differently the value of - fard, mard, etc., etc. - - [80] It is known that in India, and perhaps all over Asia, - the number of ciphers not followed by a significative - number, is indifferent, and indicates nothing else but - magnitude. Thus the Hindus, to determine positively - hundreds, thousands, etc., affix the required figure at the - end: for instance, to determine 100 rupees to be given, they - write 101. - - [81] The word is perhaps a form of the Sanscrit _Mahábodhi_, - “a great deified teacher.” In the Burhani Kati we find six - significations attributed to the word _Abad_; these are: 1. - cultivated; 2. praise and prayer; 3. exclamation of praise; - 4. the name of the Kaba; 5. the name of the first Persian - prophet; 6. good and beauteous. - - [82] See vol. I. pp. 19-20. - - [83] I have (see vol. I. p. 26, note 1) derived this name - from the Sanscrit _yas_, “glory, honor.” In Burhan Katii it - is interpreted by “what is convenient.” - - [84] _Loco cit._, p. 342. - - [85] _Journ. des Savans, février 1821_, p. 69. - - [86] See _Réflexions sur l’Étude des Langues orientales_, - _loc. cit._, p. 51. - - [87] See the development of these ideas in _Erdkunde von - Carl Ritter_, _VIII^{ter} Theil_; _III^{ter} Buch_, _West-asien - Seiten_ 105-109, with reference to _E. Burnouf Comment. sur - le Yacna_, pp. 461, 563. - - [88] We may be here permitted to call to mind the eras of - the Chaldeans, who, according to Berosus, Epigenes, Diodorus - of Sicily, Abydenus counted 490,000, 720,000, 473,000, - 463,763 years. They are said to have exhibited, before - Alexander’s conquest in Asia, historical annals for 150,000 - years. - - [89] See p. lxvii. - - -§ II.――THE PESHDADIAN, KAYANIAN, ASHKANIAN, AND -SASSANIAN DYNASTIES――THEIR RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL -INSTITUTIONS. - -After the four dynasties mentioned follows the _Gilshanian_, monarchy, -founded by _Gilshah_, or _Kayomers_, “the king or form of earth.”[90] -We are now upon well-known ground, and hear familiar names of four -races: the _Péshdadian_, _Kayanian_, _Ashkaniun_, and _Sassanian_, to -which, altogether, the Dabistán attributes a period of 6024 years, -differing considerably from that of other Asiatic chronologers.[91] - -Sir William Jones was right when he declared,[92] that “the annals of -the _Péshdadi_ (or Assyrian) race must be obscure and fabulous; those -of the Kayání family, or the Medes and Persians, heroic and poetic:” -annals gathered from oral traditions can be but such as the great -Orientalist characterises those of the mentioned dynasties. But it was -in his younger years, before he had enlarged his views upon the -history of mankind, that he fixed the origin of the Persian monarchy -so late as 890 years before our era;[93] afterwards, in India, he -refuted his former notions, and ranged more freely in the expanded -fields of antiquity. I shall add that Ferdusi places the beginning of -Gilshah’s reign 3529 years before Christ, an epoch which receives -synchronical confirmation from our daily-increasing knowledge of the -antiquity of China, India, Assyria, Egypt, and other states. - -The fundamental religion remains the same: a celestial volume called -_Payman-i-farhang_, in perfect accord with the Mahabadian code, is -transmitted to Kayomers. So the Dabistán: but, in the Desátir, the -four books ascribed to the first four Mahabadian prophet-kings contain -the purest deism, and although the foundation of astrolatry and -demonolatry may be perceived in the cosmology of the first book, yet -these did not form a positive worship, which develops itself in the -seven planetary books of the seven subsequent Persian kings, to wit: -_Kayomers_, _Siamok_, _Hushang_, _Tahmúras_, _Jamshid_, _Feridun_, and -_Menocheher_. Under these monarchs, a particular worship was rendered -to the seven planets, as to mediators between God and men; the -description of the forms under which they have been adored, is not, to -my knowledge, found in any other book but the Dabistán. - -Superstition is certainly as ancient as human nature itself; it is -impossible to fix the epoch at which particular opinions and practices -originated, such as the eighty-four sitting-postures at prayer; the -suppression of the breath for the abstraction of thought; the mystical -and fantastical notions upon vision and revelation; and particularly -the belief that a man may attain the faculty to quit and to reassume -his body, or to consider it as a loose garment, which he may put off -at pleasure for ascending to the world of light, and on his return be -reunited with the material elements. All these matters are considered -as very ancient. - -We find in the Dabistán a curious account of Persian sects under -different names, such as _Abadians_, _Azur-Húshangians_, -_Jamshaspians_, _Samradians_, _Khodaiyans_, _Radians_, _Shidrangians_, -_Paikarians_, _Milanians_, _Alarians_, _Shidabians_, _Akshiyans_. The -founders of these sects are placed so far back as the reigns of -Jamshid and Zohak. Individuals professing the particular creed of each -of these sects were living in the time of the author of the Dabistán, -who was personally acquainted with several of them, and imparts the -information which he had himself received from their lips. He gives -with particular care an account of the before-mentioned Azar -Kaivan,[94] the chief of the later _Abadíans_ and _Azar-Hushangians_. -The doctrine of these sectaries contained peculiar notions about God’s -nature and attributes, and the world; the latter was to some an -illusion; God himself but an idea. To others, God was every thing, to -be served alone without a mediator between him and mankind; -the heavens and the stars were his companions. God was the -sun――fire――air――water――earth; he was the essence of the elements: from -every one of these divine principles the heavens, stars, and the whole -world proceeded. These were some of the fundamental principles of -their metaphysical religion. - -Their morality appears to have consisted in the acknowledgment of all -natural virtues; piety, justice, charity, sobriety; wine and strong -drinks were forbidden; above all a tenderness towards all living -creatures was recommended; and the severity against those who slew -innoxious animals was carried to such an excess, than even sons -punished their fathers with death, and fathers their sons, for the -slaughter of a sheep or an elk.[95] - -Their political constitution appears from the earliest time to have -been that of an absolute monarchy: this is the curse attached to -Asiatics. The king was to be of a noble descent, and bound to -acknowledge the _Farhang-Abad_, “code of Abad.” All dignities, -military and civil, were hereditary from father to son. The royal -court and inner apartments appear to have been regulated in much the -same manner as they are still in Asia; his cup-bearers and familiar -servants, as well as those of his sons, and other nobles, were always -females. - -The interior administration of cities and villages is sufficiently -detailed in the Dabistán. An active police was established, with -numerous spies and secret reporters, for the security of government. -We are glad to find in such early times hospitals for the relief of -the suffering, and caravansaras for the convenience of travellers. -Moreover, post-stations of horses and messengers were distributed for -the rapid communication of news, from all sides of the vast empire, to -the monarch.[96] - -Not a little care was bestowed upon the discipline and continual -exercise of numerous armies. The military chiefs were distinguished by -the magnificent decorations of their persons, horses, and arms, in -which they prided themselves. They were bound to treat their soldiers -kindly, nay, obliged to produce certificates, from their subordinates, -of having behaved well towards them. An order of battle was -prescribed, in which they were to encounter the enemy; no plunder -after victory was permitted; they never slew, nor treated with -violence, a man who had thrown down his arms and asked for quarter. - -History may well be referred to religion, which is an ancient -intellectual monument, living in the human soul from generation to -generation. I have hitherto marked two religious periods: the first, -that of the _Desátir_, through the Mahabadian dynasty; the second, -that of _Paiman-í-Farhang_, prevailing during the Pésh-dadi-race until -the middle of the Kayanian reign; I now come to the third. - - - [90] The first word is pure Persian; the other may be - derived from the Sanscrit _kaya_, “body, form,” and _mrita_, - “earth.” - - [91] See vol. I. p. 31, note 1. - - [92] His Works, vol. III. the sixth Anniversary Discourse, - p. 108. - - [93] _Ibid._, vol. XII. p. 399. - - [94] See page 63. - - [95] See vol. I. pp. 181. 184. - - [96] _Parasang_, _Farsang_, even in our days a Persian word, - is found and determined as a lineal measure of distances in - Herodotus, lib. II. V. and VI. - - -§ III.――THE RELIGION OF ZARDUSHT, OR ZOROASTER. - -All religions are said to have deviated from their primitive -simplicity and purity, as men advanced in knowledge and civilisation. -This is true but in a restricted and distinctive sense, and may be -explained, even without yielding to our habit of considering that -which is more remote and less known as holier than that which is -nearer and better examined. Thus, we may admit that the impressions -made upon men in the first stage of expanding reason are stronger and -more vivid, the less they are distracted by simultaneous and -correlative associations; one great idea is enough to fill their whole -mind, and admits of no rival, of no commixture with any thing else; -curiosity, versatility, luxuriancy of intellect are not yet known; -constancy is a necessity in a small compass of ideas. We have already -touched[97] upon the powerful effect which the early perception of the -_Divine_ produced upon man: but he soon circumscribed what was too -vast or his comprehension in a perceptible object――heaven, sun, fire, -to which he offered his adoration; he wanted a visible type or image -of the invisible Divinity; but, his means of formation being at first -very confined, he contented himself with the most simple -representation: he had a symbol, an idol in a grove or cavern, but not -yet a Pantheon. Simplicity may be a mere restriction to one object or -to few objects; purity, nothing else but homogeneity in good or bad, -true or false; we shall not confound them with rationality, which may -subsist with multiplicity and mixture. Thus, the adoration of one -deified man, one great serpent, one huge stone, is by no means more -rational than the worship of numerous generations of gods, the -ingenious personification sof multiform nature, ever acknowledged as -the genuine offspring of the happy marriage between intellect and -imagination. In the absence of arts and riches, worship is rude and -destitute of showy accessories. Afterwards, the development of the -understanding widens the field of reasoning, the fertility of which -may be attested more by the shoot of weeds than by the growth of -fruits: error prevails over truth; the increase of manifold resources -facilitates and prompts superfetation of exterior religion. Besides, -the impressions, by which the first legislator attached his followers -to his doctrine, are effaced by time; the first traditions, obscured, -confused, and altered; faith is weakened, and an opening made for -change in belief, practice, and morals. A change, merely as such, is -considered as a corruption by the adherents of the old creed. Finally, -revolutions, interior and exterior, deteriorate or destroy religion -and civilisation. - -These reflexions, with the explanation previously given as to the -various notions of which the religions in Asia were composed, will -clearly show that, in the course of ages, a reform of astrolatry, -pyrolatry, and idolatry, the branches of Sabæism and Mezdaism, became -desirable; and _Zardusht_, or _Zoroaster_, appeared. - -In the notes placed at the bottom of the pages containing Mohsan -Fani’s account of Zoroaster,[98] will be found some of the principal -results of the investigations which have been made in Europe -respecting this legislator. The name of Zoroaster was applied by some -to the founder of Magism, or Sabæism; we know also, that he has been -identified with many other prophets under different names, among whom -is _Abraham_, called “the great Zardusht,” and _Hom_, of so extensive -a celebrity, that his name is mentioned by Strabo as predecessor of -Zoroaster. No wonder that the name of the latter occurs in more or -less remote times. According to the Dabistán, he was born in Rai, a -town in the province of Jebal, or Irak Ajem, the country of the -ancient Parthians, and appeared as a reformer of religion, under the -reign of _Gushtasp_, the fifth king of the Kayanian dynasty, by the -Occidental historians generally identified with _Darius Hystaspes_. -Although variously stated, this period is less subject to -chronological difficulties than are many others; for, as Eastern and -Western historians agree in the epoch of Alexander’s death (321 B. -C.), we may from this, as from a fixed point, remount upwards to -Gushtasp; we find, according to some Orientals, five reigns in 228 -years,[99] and therefore that of the said king, beginning 549 years -before our era, whilst, according to the Occidentals, there are ten -reigns within 200 years, from Alexander’s conquest of Persia to Darius -Hystaspes, whose reign commences in 521 A. D. The discrepancy of -twenty-eight years is far from being unexampled, even in more known -periods, and may in this case be most easily and plausibly -adjusted.[100] - -According to a wide-spread tradition, to which I shall have occasion -to return, Gushtasp was instructed by Brahmans; pursuant to the -Dabistán, his brother Jamasp was the pupil of the Indian -_Jangran-ghachah_ (Sankara acharya)[101]. This sage, as soon as he -heard of Gushtasp’s listening to Zoroaster, wrote an epistle to -dissuade the king from the adoption of the new creed; an interview -took place at Balkh between the Persian and Indian sages, and the -latter abandoned his religion upon hearing a _nosk_, or chapter of the -_Zand-Avesta_.[102] This is the name of the work attributed to -Zoroaster himself, a part of which was brought to Europe, in the year -1761, by Anquetil du Perron. - -The author of the Dabistán mentions the Zand-Avesta, and declares the -_Mah-Zand_ to be a portion of the Desátir, and the Zand books in -general conformable to the Mahabadian code. The fifth Sassan, the -translator and commentator of the Desátir, in a passage -above-quoted,[103] joins this work to the Avesta, and is said in the -Dabistán to have made a translation of the code of Zardusht. - -Great was the sensation caused among the learned of Europe at the -first appearance of the works attributed to Zoroaster, published in -French by Anquetil du Perron, in 1771. In a note of this volume[104] -will be found the names of the principal authors who declared -themselves for or against the authenticity of the Zoroastrian books. -Among those who combated it, sir William Jones was most conspicuous. -Seventy years have since elapsed, and a learned controversy may now be -considered as settled, nay, entirely forgotten, in the course of a -most eventful historical period. Nevertheless, the Desátir is so -closely connected with the Zand-Avesta, that so much having been said -of the one, the other should not be lightly discarded. The value and -importance of the Dabistán rest chiefly upon the support of the two -documents mentioned; on that account I may hope to be pardoned if I -here venture to repeat whatever facts and arguments appear to me to -have some bearing upon this work. But it was sir William Jones who -then roused the whole learned public into lively attention, and, I -dare presume, that the subject may by itself at all times excite -considerable interest. - -I shall quote the very words of lord Teignmouth concerning the French -author before mentioned:[105] “Anquetil had published in three quarto -volumes an account of his travels in India, the life of Zoroaster, and -some supposed works of that philosopher. To this publication he -prefixed a Discourse, in which he treated the university of Oxford, -and some of its learned members and friends of Mr. Jones, with -ridicule and disrespect. From the perusal of his works, Mr. Jones was -little disposed to agree with Monsieur du Perron in the boasted -importance of his communication; he was disgusted with his vanity and -petulance, and particularly offended by his illiberal attack upon the -university, which he respected, and upon the persons whom he esteemed -and admired. The letter which he addressed to M. du Perron was -anonymous; it was written with great force, and expresses his -indignation and contempt with a degree of asperity which the judgment -of maturer years would have disapproved.”[106] - -The letter alluded to contains most severe remarks, not only upon the -Zand-Avesta, but also upon Oriental studies in general: these are -blows so much more sensible to Orientalists, as they come from a -friendly and most revered hand. Such was the ardor of a susceptible -mind under the impression of having to vindicate the honor of his -friends, that he forgot for a moment the wreath which he had already -won in the career of Oriental literature; he had already composed his -commentary upon Asiatic poetry, and translated from the original -Persian the Life of Nadir-shah; he had then no presentiment of the -glory which he was destined to acquire by collecting, under the Indian -heaven, the lore of antique Asia. As his French letter, written in a -very spirited and brilliant style, can never be read without causing a -great impression, I shall be permitted to borrow from the writings of -this celebrated author himself some reflexions, which I think -necessary for placing in a right point of view Oriental studies in -general, and in particular the contents of the Dabistán, inasmuch as -these are in some parts founded upon the Zand-Avesta, and in other -points of a nature similar to that so much ridiculed in that ingenious -satire. - -If it were true, that Anquetil was wrong “to affront death for -procuring us useless lights――if the writings of Zoroaster are a -collection of galimatia――if enlightened Europe had no need of his -Zand-Avesta, which he has translated to no purpose, and upon which he -uselessly spent eighteen years, a time which ought to have been -precious to him――――”[107] then any similar attempts which have been or -shall be made to procure, in Asia, and to publish ancient historical -documents, are equally ridiculous and blamable. It is certainly not -the founder of a new era in Oriental literature whom we hear in these -words. Nobody knew better than he that, in Asia, the cradle of -mankind, we must search for the most ancient documents to restore the -lost history of mankind; and if all endeavors were to prove vain and -useless, still the merit of having attempted the attainment of a most -laudable purpose would remain. It is not unimportant to fix the limits -which researches can reach, and beyond which nothing is to be gained; -men are benefitted and enriched at once by the saving of time and -trouble which preceding attempts teach; and by all the acquisitions -which better directions render possible in a new and more profitable -career. Should the bold navigators who strive to arrive at the pole -never attain their aim, still would their endeavors be worthy of -praise; the smallest fragment of a rock, the slightest shoot of a -plant, plucked off in the desert of eternal ice, in latitude -eighty-eight, would at home be regarded with lively interest, and -navigation have not a little gained in aid of other more fortunate -undertakings. - -But, who can like to read “puerile details, disgusting descriptions, -barbarous words――Zoroaster could not have written such -nonsense――either he had no common sense, or he wrote not the book -which Anquetil attributed to him.”[108] - -As much has been and may be said of the books attributed to other -Asiatic legislators, who were nevertheless revered as sacred during -many ages by numerous nations. Until we properly understand the -ignorance and habitual ideas of Asiatics, we shall always remain -ignorant of what is proverbially called _the wisdom of the East_. To -appreciate the just value of the ancient codes of laws, we ought to -represent to ourselves the primitive children of the earth, as -Prometheus describes them: - - “They saw, indeed, they heard; but what avail’d - Or sight, or sense of hearing, all things rolling, - Like the unreal imagery of dreams, - In wild confusion mix’d! The lightsome wall - Of finer masonry, the rafter’d roof - They knew not; but, like ants still buried, delved - Deep in the earth, and scoop’d their sunless caves. - Unmark’d the seasons chang’d, the biting winter, - The flow’r-perfumed spring, the ripening summer, - Fertile of fruits.”[109] - -It will then be felt how important it was to break the savage under -the yoke of seemingly puerile practices and customs. In a state which -was not unaptly called “the infancy of man,” it was by no means absurd -to ensure health by dietetical prescriptions, cleanliness by -obligatory ablutions, and decency with convenience by a regulated -dress; the _koshti_, “the girdle,” of Zoroaster was then not so -unmeaning as it now appears to us. It was necessary to educate the -moral sense by appropriate images, and to occupy conveniently, by -fables, symbols, and mythical accounts, the first active faculty of -the soul, imagination. Although those men who, as legislators, were -elevated above their barbarous age, could in many points but partake -in the general imbecility and ignorance of an infant state of society, -they have nevertheless, among seemingly childish and absurd precepts, -promulgated most luminous truths, better than which none have hitherto -been known, even at the most advanced degree of civilisation. Any -information above the common understanding of the age is justly called -“a revelation,” and every nation has received some from their -prophets, by which we have all benefited.[110] We, the youngest sons -of science, ought to keep a grateful and reverential remembrance of -our elder brothers. Let it be a subject of regret that, by the -maintenance of ancient institutions much longer than was required for -their intended purpose, the intellectual growth of many Asiatic -nations was stopped; thus they now appear made for their laws, whilst -their laws were once made for them. After these and similar -reflexions, we shall view Zoroaster’s hundred gates, and the remains -of his twenty-one nosks, as venerable monuments of an antique -civilisation, which ought never to be profaned by derision. - -Upon the Zand language, in which Zoroaster’s laws were written, I -refer to the great philologers of our days, who have examined -it――Rask,[111] Bopp, Burnouf, Lassen, and others: it is one of the -most important conquests made in archæology and philology, and this we -owe to Anquetil. When Jones[112] treated with such severity the -publication of this French author, he could not foresee that he should -one day call forth to notoriety the Dabistán, which rests in great -part upon the authority of the Desátir, and these very books to which -he refused all authenticity. Mohsan Fani, one hundred and twenty years -before Anquetil, derived his information probably from other copies of -Zoroaster’s works, and knew nothing of Western authors, yet his -statements agree with what the latter, before and after our era -related, and most particularly with what the French discoverer -published of that ancient philosopher. Can it be supposed that all -these men of different nations, whose statements have thus coincided -during the lapse of more than two thousand years, have “imposed upon -themselves, or been imposed upon by others concerning the pretended -laws of a pretended legislator?” Anquetil deserved a better name than -that of “a French adventurer, who translated the books ascribed to -Zoroaster, from the translation of a certain gypsy at Surat, and his -boldness in sending them abroad as genuine”[113] was not unsupported -by judgment. If there was some folly and foppery to deride in a young -man, who spoke of his _lilly-rosy cheeks and elegant figure_, there -was no “_imposture_” to detect, and too much acerbity shewn in -retorting thoughtless indiscretions, exaggerated into “_invectives_.” - -Sir William Jones, when he published the strictures which his -antagonist, from pride or moderation, never answered, was but in his -twenty-fourth year and under the influence of youthful ardor. Eighteen -years after, in a discourse, addressed to the Asiatic Society of -Calcutta, in 1789, he spoke with more moderation of Anquetil as -“having had the merit of undertaking a voyage to India in his earliest -youth with no other view than to recover the writings of Zoroaster.” -The illustrious president of that Society was not in the position to -appreciate Anquetil’s whole character, and died too soon to become -acquainted with the brilliant reputation which the youthful voyager -acquired in his maturer years as a learned member of the French -Academy of Letters, both in his own country and abroad.[114] - -The Dabistán informs us, that the Zand-books are of two kinds: the -one, perspicuous and without enigmatical forms of speech, is called -the _Mah-Zand_, “great Zand;” the second, abounding in enigmatic or -figurative language, is entitled _Kah-Zand_, “little Zand.” The first, -in most points speculative and practical, agrees with the Desátir; the -second is intended to prevent philosophy falling into the hands of the -ignorant, to whom an enigmatical veil is offered, whilst the sages -know the true purport of the pure doctrine. To king Gushtasp, his -brother Jamasp, his son Isfendiar, and to Bahman, the son of the -latter, were attributed the interpretations of Zoroaster’s religious -system, and many ingenious parables which, for their moral sense, may -be reckoned among the best specimens of this kind of popular -instruction. - -This true statement, contained in the Dabistan,[115] corrects the -assertion of sir William Jones,[116] that Mohsan Fani affirms “the -work of Zartusht to “have been lost.” The learned Orientalist -evidently confounds the _Mah-zand_, which is said to be a portion of -the Desátir, with the work of Zartusht. The writer of the Dabistán -enumerates[117] the twenty-one _nosks_ or books, of which the Zand was -composed; he says:[117] “At present there are fourteen complete nosks, -possessed by the Dosturs of Karman; the other seven being incomplete, -as, through the wars and dissensions which prevailed in Iran some of -the nosks have disappeared, so that, notwithstanding the greatest -researches, the nosks have come into their hands in a defective -state.” We find it expressly declared in the Dabistán, on the -authority[118] of the Dostur who wrote the volume of the _Sad dur_, -“the hundred gates,” that “the excellent faith has been received from -the prophet Zartusht.” In a particular section, intitled _Enumeration -of some advantages which arise from the enigmatical forms of the -precepts of Zartusht’s followers_, Mohsan not only adduces examples of -Zartushtian allegories, but subjoins his own interpretations of them; -yet he never _affirms_, nor even insinuates “the place of Zoroaster’s -lost works to have been supplied by a recent compilation.” Nor can we -assent to the view, which sir W. Jones takes of the modern literature -of the Mobeds, “for whom,” he says,[119] “as they continued to profess -among themselves the religion of their forefathers, it became -expedient to supply the last or mutilated works of their legislator by -new compositions, partly from their imperfect recollection, and partly -from such moral and religious knowledge as they gleaned, most probably -among the Christians with whom they had an intercourse.” - -To settle our judgment upon this subject, we ought to recollect, that -languages and precepts may be transmitted from generation to -generation by oral instruction, which indeed was once the only -possible mode during a long period of time. It was then that memory -was so much stronger, as, destitute of all artificial assistance, it -depended solely upon itself. We bought the advantage of writing by -resigning somewhat of memorial energy; this was the evil, which, -according to Plato, Thamus, the Egyptian king, predicted to Theut, the -inventor of writing. However this may be, it will appear founded upon -reason and history, that religious creeds, which had once been the -property of nations, are not easily eradicated by any force, or -forgotten under any circumstances; they become living streams of ideas -and sentiments, which run uninterruptedly through the ever-renewed -races of man, even when these separate from a parent stock. Hence we -find, in countries and among nations the most remote from each other, -so many notions and customs, the origin of which is lost in the night -of time. Shall I mention the Jews, who, throughout the whole world, -repeat to-day the same words which they learned more than thirty-three -centuries ago? With regard to the Guebres――sir W. Jones might have -safely granted a little more confidence to his friend Bahman, his -Persian reader, who always named with reverence Zartusht, whose -religion he professed, in common with many so called Guebres. For -these it was not necessary “to preserve Zoroastrian books, in sheets -of lead or copper, at the bottom of wells near Yezd:”[120] this fact, -which Bahman used to assert, shows the particular care which had once -been taken to guard these sacred documents, the veneration for which -most naturally prevented any falsification of their known contents. - -We are confirmed, by the author of the Dabistán, that Zoroaster did -not change the fundamentals of the ancient religion; only the dualism -of the principles, good and bad, not existing, as I have remarked[121] -in the Mahabadian religion, was either then first introduced, or only -further developed; besides, we see the cycle of 12,000 years fixed, -and divided into four periods of 3000 years each; we hear the promise -of a Saviour to restore the empire of God promulgated, and the -destruction of the world by fire announced: this is at the same time -the epoch of the general resurrection, which is one of the most -remarkable dogmas of the Zoroastrian religion. - -Although this be not destitute of religious observances, yet we find -scarce any painful austerity recommended. The twenty-fifth gate of -Zoroaster contains the remarkable precept: “Know that in thy faith -there is no fasting except that of avoiding sin: in which sense thou -must fast the whole year.”[122] The ancient Mahabadian religion, -although adulterated before, during, and after Zoroaster’s life, seems -to have never lost its grave character and solemnity. In the -Zand-books known to us, no trace of temples, altars, or religious -symbols exist. Herodotus knew of none; the fire-places were upon a -desert place, or upon mountains; the fire upon the ground. Upon the -Persian monuments which time has spared, upon the walls of the -thousand-pillared palace of Isfahan, and upon those of the Royal tombs -we see no idols, but priests and kings, performing the sacrifice of -fire before their _fervers_, “ideals of virtue and sanctity,” and -other actions rather of a political than religious character. The -pyræa, round and concave, represented the vault of heaven. Nevertheles -other accounts permit us to believe, that, by association with other -nations; most likely by the introduction of sculpture, architecture, -and painting; and, as the Dabistán expressly says, by the use of -symbolical language: a superstitious worship of sacred places and -symbolic images gained a great ascendancy. - -This religion prevailed during the times of the Kayanian kings from -Gushtasp to Dara the Second, during more than two centuries. After the -conquest of Persia by Alexander, a political and religious revolution -took place in this country, and extended to Greece, where, according -to the commentary of the Desátir, the creed of the _Gushaspians_ was -introduced. This is declared to be a medium between the _Illuminated_ -and the _Rationalists_, perhaps the same which the Dabistán calls the -faith of the _Beh-dinians_, “professors of the better religion.” So -much is avowed by Philo, Plinius, and others――and we have reason to -lay stress upon this avowal――that at one time the so called barbarians -were reckoned to be more wise and virtuous than the Greeks. During the -Ashkanian dynasty (from the third century B. C. to the end of the -second after our era), the people conformed to the _Kah-zand_, that -is, yielded to the superstition, which the figurative language was apt -to suggest. Ardeshir, the first Sassanian, in the beginning of the -third century A. D.; endeavored to re-establish the ancient religion; -but, after his reign of forty years, the Kah-zand took and kept the -ascendancy, until the Persian empire fell before the overwhelming -power of the Muhammedans. The Mah-zand was lost during the domination -of the intolerant invaders, Greeks, Arabs, and Turks; the Kah-zand -still remains in some of its parts, whilst many others were lost in -the successive disorders of the state. - -The fifteenth and last section of the first chapter treats of -_Mazdak_, who lived in the fifth century of our era. We are informed -of the existence of a book, called _Desnak_, which the author of the -Dabistán saw, and which contains the doctrine of this reformer. This -was nothing else than the Zoroastrian system about the two principles, -_Yezed_, “God” or “light,” and _Ahriman_, “agent of evil” or -“darkness,” with a few peculiarities which did not destroy the -fundamental principles of the original religion. But, it was the -ethical part of his doctrine which at first caused a great revolution, -and at last the destruction of the teacher and his numerous disciples, -Mazdak bade all men to be partners in riches and women, just as they -are of fire, water, and grass; private property was not to exist; each -man to enjoy or to endure, in his turn, the good and bad lots of this -world. To this strange doctrine may be perhaps applied the saying of a -great bishop (Bossuet): that “every error is but an abuse of some -truth.” To prevent an excessive inequality of fortunes in society was -the object towards which celebrated ancient legislators tended, and -for which frequently wishes were expressed, reforms projected, and -politico-philosophical romances[123] composed by well-meaning and -respectable persons. It is therefore to a natural, but dangerous -propensity of the human mind, that we ought to refer Mazdak’s bold and -for some time too successful attempt, as well as all the doctrines of -the same tendency, which before and after him were and will henceforth -be proposed. - -I have now terminated the general review of what the first chapter of -the Dabistán, and the first volume of the English translation contain, -concerning the most ancient dynasties, religions, and political -institutions of Persia. - - - [97] See page 70. - - [98] See vol. I. p. 211 _et seq._ - - [99] See sir John Malcolm’s History of Persia. Ferdusi - counts 304 years from Alexander’s death to the beginning of - Gushtasp’s reign; but he assigns to the latter 120, and 112 - to that of his successor _Bahman Arjer_, or _Ardishir diraz_ - (Artaxerxes longimanus). These two reigns might have - comprised those of several others not mentioned by Ferdusi. - - [100] The duration of the whole Kayanian dynasty is stated - by the Orientals (see vol. I. p. 31, note 1 of this work) to - be 704 years in 10 reigns; according to Occidental - historians, it is only 380 years in 18 reigns. The first - statement is evidently erroneous as to the small number of - kings, but it is not decided that it is equally so as to the - duration of the whole dynasty. The error is more likely to - be in the list of the kings than in the whole period of - their reigns. May I be permitted to refer to my discussion - upon the chronology of the _Rajatarangini_ (vol. II. p. 387)? - - [101] Sir William Jones says (Works, vol. III. p. 128): “It - was he (Zoroaster)――not as Ammianus asserts, his protector, - Gushtasp――who travelled in India, that he might receive - information from the Brahmans in theology and ethics.” This - is not to be found in the edition of Calcutta, nor in the - manuscript of the Dabistán which D. Shea and myself have - seen. - - [102] Mr. Eugène Burnouf, when he communicated to me his - opinion upon the derivation of the word _Wasátir_ (see - p. xxii), adverted incidentally to that of the term - _Zand-Avesta_, interpreted sometimes “the _Zand_ and the - _Usta_,” and said, that these words are found in perhaps a - single passage of the books of Zoroaster, to wit, _huzanth - vacha vaidhya cha_. These two words are applied to _mantras_ - (prayers), and seem to signify “which will give life,” or - “which are salutary to towns and nations,” and “which are - learned.” We recognise the Sanscrit _sujantu_ and _vidya_. - - [103] See page 66. - - [104] See vol. I. p. 223. - - [105] See Memoirs of the life, writings, and correspondence - of sir W. Jones, in his Works, vol. I. p. 190, 8vo., ed., - 1807. - - [106] See works of sir W. J. vol. X. p. 403 _et seq._ - - [107] See Works of Sir W. J., vol. X. p. 403 _et seq._ - - [108] See works of sir W. J. pp. 413. 432. 437. - - [109] De Potter’s Transl. of Æschylus, Prometheus chained. - In the Greek origin. v. 447-456. - - [110] Voltaire, whose genius sir W. Jones knew how to - appreciate, said: “Glorifions-nous de ce que les vérités les - plus importantes sont devenues des lieux communs pour les - Européens, mais ne nous en moquons pas, et sachons avoir - quelque reconnaissance pour les anciens legislateurs qui - nous les ont, les premiers, appris.” - - [111] See Transact. of the R. A. S. of Great Brit. and - Irel., vol. III. part I. p. 524 _et seq._ _Remarks on the - Zand language and the Zand-Avesta._ This able tract is - chiefly a comment upon Erskine’s Memoir _On the sacred book - and religion of the Parsis_, in the Transact. of the Lit. - Soc. of Bombay, vol. II. p. 295. - - [112] Sir W. J. says (see his Works, vol. III. p. 116) that, - according to his conviction, the dialect of the Guebrs, - which they pretend to be that of Zertusht, of which Bahman, - a Guebr and his Persian reader, gave him a variety of - written specimens, is a late invention of their priests. - What language does he mean? certainly not that of the - Zand-Avesta, of which he speaks in particular, and states - (_ibid._, p. 118) “the language of the Zand was at least a - dialect of the Sanscrit, approaching, perhaps, as nearly to - it as the Prácrit, or other popular idioms, which we know to - have been spoken in India two thousand years ago.” - - [113] Sir W. J.’s Works, vol. V. pp. 414-415. - - [114] Anquetil composed a number of Memoirs, read to the - French Institut and preserved in their printed records. He - published, in 1771, three quarto volumes upon his voyages - to, in, and from India, and the Works of Zoroaster; in 1798, - _L’Inde en rapport avec l’Europe; in 1799, La Legislation - orientale, ou le despotisme considéré dans la Turquie, la - Perse et l’Indostane_. An epistle which he placed before his - Latin translation of _Dara Shuko’s Persian Upanishad_, and - addressed to the Brahmans of India, contained, as it were, - his religious and political testament. He declares his - nourishment to have been reduced, like that of an abstemious - ascetic, living, even in winter, without fire; and sleeping - in a bed without feathers or sheets. His juvenile boast of - “personal beauty” was expiated by total neglect of his body, - left “with linen unchanged and unwashed;” his aspirations to - “a vast extent of learning” had subsided into patient and - most persevering studies. But, disdaining to accept gifts - and pensions, even from government, he preserved his - absolute liberty, and blessed his poverty, “as the salvation - of his soul and body, the rampart of morality and of - religion; a friend of all men; victorious over the - allurements of the world” he tended towards the Supreme - Being. Well may virtues so rare efface other human failings - of Anquetil du Perron. He died, in his seventy-fourth year, - in 1805.――(See _Histoire et Mémoires de l’Institut royal de - France. Classe d’Histoire et de Littérature anciennes_, tome - III. 1818.) - - [115] See Transl., vol. I. pp. 351-353. - - [116] Works, vol. III. p. 115. - - [117] Transl. vol. I. p. 275. - - [118] _Ibid._, p. 310. - - [119] _Loco cit._, p. 117. - - [120] Yezd, in central Persia, is the ancient Isatichæ of - Ptolemy. It is celebrated on account of the fire-worship of - _Yezdan_ (or Ormuzd, as light), there practised, and as the - last asylum of the adherents to Zoroaster’s religion, who - fled before the Muhammedans. From thence thefire-worshippers - sought a refuge in India, and settled in Diu, Bombay, and in - the higher valleys of the Indus and the Ganges. - - [121] See vol. I. p. 71. - - [122] See vol. I. p. 321. - - [123] For instance, the _Utopia_ of Thomas Moore, the - _Oceana_ of Harrington, the _Leviathan_ of Hobbes, etc., etc. - - -§ IV.――THE RELIGION OF THE HINDUS. - -The theatre upon which the author of the Dabistán begins history from -the remotest times, is Persia, without limitation of its extent, -probably including Chaldæa. From thence he passes to India, he says -little of any other country; nothing at all of Egypt. The delta of -this most fertile land, as an alluvial formation of the great river -Nile, was necessarily posterior to the existence of inland regions; -still its claims to antiquity are very high and not unsupported, to a -certain extent, by the best written testimonies and architectural -monuments. If I here refer in a cursory manner to its eras,[124] it is -to strengthen what was above remarked concerning the general belief of -the great age of the world. The ancient religion of Egypt, although -connected and conformable in many points with other Asiatic religions, -is never alluded to by the author of the Dabistán, probably because in -his time the Egyptians had lost even the memory of their ancient -history, which very little attracted the curiosity of their masters, -the Muhammedans, except perhaps by the medium of the Bible of the -Jews, often quoted in their Koran.[125] - -I cannot here omit briefly noticing the various opinions of several -learned men concerning the comparative antiquity of the Magi, the -Egyptian priests, and the Hindu philosophers. Aristotle[126] believed -the Magi more ancient than the Egyptians; Diodorus of Sicily[127] -believed the Hindus to have never sent nor received colonies, and -invented every art and science; Lucian, Philostratus[128], and -Eusebius[129] granted anteriority in philosophy to the Hindus over the -Egyptians. In our times the learned abbé Mignot established in three -Memoirs[130], that the Hindus owed nothing to the Egyptians, and -traced the true communications of the former with several nations of -Asia and Europe. But sir W. Jones declared in 1785[131], as not -ill-grounded, the opinion that Ethiopia and Hindostan were peopled or -colonized by the same extraordinary race, or that the Ethiopians of -Meroe were the same people as the Hindus. His opinion was reproduced -under different forms by Hennel, Wilford, Forbes, Carwithen, among the -English, and adopted by L. Langles among the French. I need not dwell -upon this opinion, as the grounds upon which it rested are now -considered as entirely destroyed. Sir W. Jones himself seems to have -abandoned it in 1789,[132] as the Dabistán appeared to him to furnish -an unexceptionable evidence, that the Iranian monarchy must have been -the oldest in the world, although, he added, it will remain dubious to -which of the three stocks, Hindu, Arabian, or Tartar, the first kings -of Iran belonged; or whether they sprang from a fourth race, distinct -from any of the others; He further states, that no country but Persia -seems likely to have sent forth colonies to all the kingdoms of Asia, -and that the three races (Indians, Arabs, Tartars) migrated from Iran -as from their common country, “the true centre of population, of -knowledge, of languages, and of arts; which, instead of travelling -westward only, as it has been fancifully supposed, or eastward, as -might with equal reason have been asserted, were expanded in all -directions to all the regions of the world, in which the Hindu race -had settled under various denominations.” - -The second chapter of the Dabistán describes, in twelve sections, the -religious systems and customs of the Hindus. It is a detailed account, -given by a Persian who, as traveller and resident in India during -about thirty years, had the best opportunities to collect right -information; he shows himself acquainted with the canonical books of -this nation; he quotes their Puránas, and other works less known.[133] - -The Hindus are, among all nations, most particularly distinguished by -a decided turn for metaphysics, which even tinctured the radicals of -their language; they have labored more than others to solve, exhaust, -comprehend, what is insolvible, inexhaustible, incomprehensible. To -give a general notion of their metaphysical theology, I do not say to -render it intelligible, would require an extensive treatise. We will -now give a few characteristic and leading features of their systems as -indicated in the Dabistán. - -Some of their theological philosophers made incredible efforts to -steer clear of anthropomorphism in their conceptions of the Divinity: -their Brahm, in the neuter gender, has no symbol, nor image, nor -temple; they generally profess the great principle of _emanation of -all existences from a common but unknown source_. God is the producer -of the beginning and end, exhibiting himself in the mirror of pure -space. Creation is held to have proceeded from pure space and time. -Other Hindu philosophers establish: 1. a primary, subtile, universal -substance, undergoing modification through its own energy. This they -call _Mula Prakritti_, “rudimental nature,” no production but the root -of all, involving, 2. _seven principles_, which are productions and -productive (that is, intellect, egotism, and five subtile elements); -from these seven proceed: 3. _sixteen productions_ (to wit, eleven -organs and five gross elements); to these just mentioned twenty-four -(namely, Nature, seven principles and sixteen productions); add, 4. -_the soul_, which is neither a production, nor productive, and you -have the _twenty-five physical and metaphysical categories_ of the -Sankhya philosophy.[134] This strikes us as a very specious methodical -arrangement of an abstruse matter, which is not thereby in any degree -rendered more intelligible. - -We seem to understand something more when, as in the Vedenta -philosophy, it is said of the truly-existing Being (God):[135] “that -he has exhibited the “world and the heavens in the field of existence, -but has nothing like an odor of being, nor taken a color of reality; -and this manifestation is called _Máya_ that is, ‘the Magic of God,’ -because the universe is his playful deceit, and he is the bestower of -imitative existence, himself the unity of reality. With this pure -substance, like an imitative actor, he passes every moment into -another form. He, manifesting his being and unity in three persons, -separate from each other, formed the universe. The connexion of the -spirits with the holy Being is like the connexion of the billows with -the ocean, or that of sparks with fire.” This is pure idealism; but -man will spontaneously break through the shadowy illusion, and grasp -at some reality; the trinity of the Hindus became _creation_, -_preservation__, and _destruction_ (or renovation), the history of -nature before their eyes. - -I shall here remark, without attempting to explain, the striking -contrast in the religion of the same nation between the most subtile -metaphysic theology and the grossest idolatry. In the latter, the -symbolical representation prevails; it is known, that in its -immoderate use they have entirely abandoned the normal proportions of -the human form, and by the multiplication of members banished all -fitness and beauty. Their plastic and graphic typification of an -all-mighty, all-bestowing, and all-resuming God, with its three, four, -five heads, so many and more arms, is repulsive; in their poetry he -frightens us with innumerable mouths, eyes, breasts, arms, and legs, -grinding between his teeth the generations of men, who precipitate -themselves into his mouth like rivers into the ocean, or flies into -fire.[136] - -The psychology of the Hindus is not less abstruse than the rest of -their metaphysics. We have already mentioned the soul among the -twenty-five categories as neither a production nor productive. The -Indian philosophers distinguish spirit and soul, that is, a rational -soul and a mere sensitive principle. The first is supposed enveloped -with a subtile, shadowy form of the most delicate material ether. Some -hold the soul to be incased in three sheaths, the intellectual, the -mental, and the organic or vital sheath.[137] According to different -views the vital spirit is _Máya_ herself, or an emanation of Máyá, in -any case the illusive manifestation of the universe. - -This ingenuous conception seems to have taken deep and complete -possession of the Hindus; it dominates in their most subtile -abstractions, and embodies itself in a thousand forms to their vivid -and luxuriant imagination. The _Saktians_, a sect wedded to sensual -materialism, represent Máyá as a _Saktí_ or energy of Siva; she is -“the mother of the universe;” “non-entity finds no access to this -creator, the garment of perishableness does not sit right upon the -body of this fascinating empress; the dust of nothingness does not -move round the circle of her dominion; the real beings and the -accidental creatures of the nether world are equally enamoured and -intoxicated with desire before her.” Above the six circles, into which -the Hindus divide the human body, is “the window of life, and the -passage of the soul, which is the top and middle of the head, and in -that place is the _flower of the back_ of one thousand leaves: this is -the residence of the glorious divinity, that is, of the -world-deceiving queen, and in this beautiful site reposes her origin. -With the splendor of one hundred thousand world-illuminating suns, she -wears, at the time of rising, manifold odoriferous herbs and various -flowers upon her head, and around her neck: her resplendent body is -penetrated with perfumes of divers precious ingredients, such as musk, -safran, sandal, and amber, and bedecked with magnificent garments; in -this manner, she is to be represented.”[138] Thus we see the poetical -imagination of the Hindus, playing, as it were, with abstruseness, -materializing what is spiritual, and spiritualizing what is material. - -Characteristic of and peculiar to the Hindus, are their conceptions -relative to the states of the embodied soul, which are chiefly three: -“_waking_, _dreaming_, and _profound sleep_.”[138] In these three -conditions the soul is imprisoned, but it may, by virtue and sanctity, -break the net of illusion, that is, acquire the consciousness of the -illusion which captivates it, and know that, even when awake, man is -dreaming: this is the triumph of his perfection. - -Such, and other notions, in their development and application, form a -system of metaphysics, in which excess and abuse of refined -speculations lose themselves in obscurity, contradiction, and -absurdity. - -Among the Indian sectaries appear the _Charvak_, who, rejecting the -popular religion, follow their own system of philosophic opinions. - -Of _Buddha_ and the _Buddhists_, we are disappointed to find so little -in the Dabistán, except the important information that Vichnu, in -order to destroy the demons and evil genii, the agents of night, -assumed the avatár of Buddha when ten years only of the Dwaparyug -remained, that is, 3112 years before Christ. In the section on the -tenets held by the followers of Buddha, these religionists are called -_Jatis_ or _Yatis_, a great number of whom are corn-traders and get -their livelihood as servants; they are divided in several classes, and -do not believe the incarnations of the deity; as to the rest, they -have tenets and customs in common with other Indian sects, only -distinguishing themselves by a great aversion to Brahmans, and an -extreme care of not hurting animal life. - -In the whole account, which the Dabistán gives of the various sects -and doctrines of the Hindus, we can but remark a frequent confusion of -Indian with Muhammedan notions and stories. Indeed, this work having -been written in India at a time when, after a sojourn of more than -seven centuries, about twenty millions of Muselmans appeared, as it -were, lost in the midst of one hundred millions of Hindus, we cannot -wonder that a mutual assimilation in opinions and customs took place -among individuals of both religions. A remarkable instance of it -presents itself in the person of _Kabir_, renowned in his time for -sanctity. After his death, both the Hindus and Muhammedans claimed his -corpse for funeral honors; monuments erected to him by each party -exist in our days, with the proverbial precept which originated from -this event: - - “Live so as to be claimed after death to be burnt by Hindus, - and to be buried by Muslims.” - -The Indian Yogis, Sanyásis, and Vairagis are perpetually confounded -with Muhammedan Durvishes, and Sufis, of whom hereafter. - -We do not fail to meet with many traces of the ancient Persian -astrolatry and pyrolatry among the Indians. Mohsan mentions the -_Surya-makhan_ (_Sauras_), “worshippers of the sun,” and periphrases, -as addressed to that luminary, a Sanscrit prayer, which seems to be -one of those called _gayátri_, the holiest verses of the Vedas, kept -as mysterious by the Brahmans, and pronounced with the deepest sense -of concentrated devotion. In our days, more than one _gayátri_ has -been made known.[139] We cannot doubt that (according to the -poet)[140]―― - - “That vast source of liquid light, the ethereal sun, which - perpetually laves heaven with ever-renewed brightness,” - -was, from the remotest times, the object of adoration in India. The -Dabistán mentions also the _Chandra-bakhtra_, “worshippers of the -moon.” Even in our days we find the veneration for the sun, the -planets, and fire, openly practised by the Hindus. The worshippers of -the latter elements called _Sagníkas_, are very numerous at -Benares;[141] they keep many _agni-hotras_, “burnt-offerings,” -continually blazing; they kindle, with two pieces of sacred wood, -called _sámi_, a fire, never extinguished during their lives, for the -performance of solemn sacrifices, their nuptial ceremonies, the -obsequies of departed ancestors, and their own funeral pile. There are -besides particular worshippers of the wind, water, earth, and the -three kingdoms of nature. The latter are called _Tripujas_, -“trinitarians.” We find also _Manushya-bhakta_, “worshippers of -mankind,” who recognise the being of God in man, and believe nothing -to be more perfect than mankind; like _Channing_, a famous American -preacher of our days. In short, the worship of personified nature, in -its utmost extent, is most evident in what we know of the Vedas, and -never ceased to be the general religion of the Hindus. - -Not without interest will be read in the Dabistán the account of -_Nanak_,[142] the founder of the Sikh religion and domination. He is -there represented as having been, in a former age, _Janaka_, sovereign -of Mithila, and father of Sitá, the wife of Rama. The revolution -effected by Nanak, in the middle of the sixteenth century, proves that -the Hindus are not quite so unchangeable in religion and customs as is -generally believed. It is however to be remarked, that the Panj-ab, -the country of the Sikhs, was always considered by the Brahmans as the -seat of heterodoxy (probably Buddhism), and blamed for irregularity of -manners. Mohsan’s account will be found to add confirmation and a few -particulars to that given of Nanak, from the best sources――the -generals sir John Malcolm, and John Briggs. - -What will appear most valuable in this work is the description of -various usages, some of which have never been described elsewhere. The -most ancient customs are brought to recollection. Thus, we find -stated, on the authority of Maha bharat, that widows could formerly -take other husbands――married women, with the consent of their -husbands, maintain intercourse with other men――several individuals, of -the same race and religion, espouse one wife among them;――in ancient -times there existed no such practice as appropriation of husband and -wife; every woman being allowed to cohabit with whomsoever she liked; -conjugal fidelity was only in later times made a duty. Much of what he -describes may be seen, even in our days, in India, where all the -degrees of civilisation which the Hindus ever attained, from the -lowest to the highest, occur here and there within a small compass of -country. So constant are they in good and bad! The whole of antiquity -is still living in India, and Herodotus stands confirmed in what -appeared most incredible in his narrative by the testimonies of Mohsan -Fáni, the reverend abbe Dubois,[143] Ward, and others. The Persian -author intersperses his account with anecdotes which characterise in -the most lively manner individuals, sects, and tribes. If now and then -we must avert our eyes from disgusting scenes of human degradation, -more frequently we admire man, even in his errors, for the power and -command of the mental over the physical part of his nature. The naked -Yogi, who inflicts the most cruel tortures upon himself, wants but a -better motive for being justly extolled as a hero of fortitude; death -appears to him an habitual companion, into whose arms he sinks without -fear; overpowered by malady, he buries himself alive. - -We may be astonished at the number of unbelievers among the Hindus of -whom we read, and at the licentiousness of their opinions, expressed -with a strength which we should think carried to excess.[144] We -perceive also that, in contradiction to common belief, in the midst of -the seventeenth century, when the Dabistán was composed (1645 A. D.) a -numerous class of Indians assumed the name of Muselmans, but it must -be remarked, that the Hindus neither endeavor to make, nor easily -admit, proselytes: because their religion depends much less upon -creed, in which they are latitudinarians, than upon the fixed customs -of their castes, the character of which, being derived from birth, -cannot be transferred to strangers.[145] We shall see hereafter in -what manner Hindus and Muhammedans may be confounded with each other. - -So much of India being known in our days, we have the facility of -trying the veracity and correctness of the Dabistán concerning this -country. Its account will be found, I dare say, rather incomplete in -the small compass in which so extensive a subject was inclosed, but -not inaccurate in the greatest part of its various statements. Sir W. -Jones[146] bears Mohsan Fani the testimony, “that his information -concerning the Hindus is wonderfully correct.” Let us compare the -account given by him with all that has been published about India by -the best instructed Europeans before the foundation of the Asiatic -Society of Bengal, and we shall regret that the Dabistán was brought -into notice so late. Whatever it be, the particular views of a -Persian, through a medium of education, religion, and custom, so -different from that through which we consider India, can but interest -us by their novelty, and by themselves add something to our -information about the character of Asiatics. - - - [124] According to Manetho, a high-priest of Heliopolis, the - Egyptians counted 53,525 years; they saw twice the sun set - where he now rises――they saw (as well as the Chaldeans) the - ecliptic perpendicular upon the equator before 39,710 years. - Herodotus (lib. II) attributes to them, more moderately, - 15,882 historical years. - - [125] The history of Joseph, Pharaoh, Moses in Egypt, is - often referred to by Muhammed and his followers; they state - that the Egyptian king professed a religion unlike that - mentioned by Greek authors, with whom the Bible also - disagrees. In general, monotheism is adverse to the - examination of polytheistical systems, and seldom accurate - in the representation of their tenets. - - [126] Quoted by Diogenes Laertius, _Prœm._, p. 6. - - [127] Lib. II. p. 113. edit. Wossel. - - [128] Vita Apol. c. 6. - - [129] _Chron. lib. post._, n. 400. - - [130] _Mémoires de Littérature de l’Académie royale des - Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres_, tome XXXI. - - [131] Works, vol. III. p. 41. - - [132] Ibid., pp. 111. 134. - - [133] Such is the Jog-Vasishta, mentioned (vol. II. pp. 28 - and 256) as a very ancient book. Sir W. Jones calls it one - of the finest compositions on the philosophy of the Vedanta - school; it contains the instructions of the great Vasishta - to his pupil Rama. Lord Teignmouth says, that several - Persian versions of this work exist, and quotes some - passages of them, which, compared with the original - Sanscrit, were found substantially accurate. - - [134] See the detailed table of it, vol. II. p. 122. - - [135] Vol. II. pp. 91-92. - - [136] See _Bhagavad-gita_, vv. 16. 23. 28. 29. Schlegel’s ed. - - [137] vol. II. p. 24. - - [138] See vol. II. pp. 150-151. - - [139] That which sir W. Jones quotes (see Works, vol. XIII. - p. 367) is, perhaps, most to be depended upon. - - [140] Lucretius, V. v. 282: - Largus item liquidi fons luminis, æthereus sol, - Irrigat assiduè cœlum candore recenti. - - [141] Sir W. J., Works, vol. III. p. 127. - - [142] Vol. II. pp. 246-288. - - [143] See _Mœurs, Institutions et Cérémonies des Peuples de - l’Inde; par M. l’abbé J. A. Dubois, ci-devant missionnaire - dans le Meissour_. Paris, 1825. This work was first - published in the English language, London, 1816. It had been - translated from the author’s French manuscript, which lord - William Bentinck, governor of Madras, purchased on the - account of the East India Company, in 1807. This composition - received the approbation of major Wilks, resident of - Maissour, sir James Mackintosh, and William Erskine, Esq.; - to which I am happy to add the most decisive judgment of the - honorably-known Brahman, Ram Mohun Roy, whom I often heard - say: “The European who best knew the Hindus, and gave the - most faithful account of them, was the abbé Dubois.” - - [144] See vol. II. p. 201. - - [145] The celebrated Ram Mohun Roy had abandoned all the - tenets, but remained as much as possible attached to the - customs, of his Brahminical caste. - - [146] His Works, vol. IV. p. 16. - - -§ V.――RETROSPECT OF THE PERSIAN AND INDIAN RELIGIONS. - -I have endeavored to trace the most remarkable features of Persian and -Indian religions from among those which are contained in the Dabistán. -In them we recognise resemblances, and, in more than one point, even -coincidences, which appear not merely taken from each other in the -course of time, but rather originally inwoven in the respective -institutions. This may be explained, partly by the general probability -that nations, passing through the same stages of civilisation, might -agree in several parts of religion, politics, and philosophy, and -chiefly by the fact, now generally admitted among the learned,[147] -that in very remote times, a union of all the Arian nations, among -whom the Persians and Indians are counted, existed in the common -regions of central Asia. Sir W. Jones[148] goes so far as to say: “We -cannot doubt that the book of Mahabad, or Manu, written in a celestial -dialect, means the Veda.” William von Schlegel most ingeniously -surmises,[149] “that the name of _Zand_ may be but a corruption of the -Sanscrit word _chhandas_, one of the most usual names of the Vedas.” -The fourteen Mahabadians are to him: “Nothing else but the fourteen -Manus, past and future, of the Brahmanical mythology.”[150] Thus we -should have to thank Mohsan Fani for a confirmation of the -above-stated historical fact; the _Mahabadians_ were nothing else but -_Mahabodhis_, in good Sanscrit, “great deified teachers;” he would -have placed them, as did lately Burnouf, Lassen, and Charles Ritter, -somewhere on the highlands of Iran, and he _invented_ nothing. - -From the ante-historical dynasties descending to later times, let us -consider that, according to respectable traditions,[151] there existed -friendly and hostile relations between Iran and Persia in the time of -the Iranian king _Feridun_, 1729 years before our era: he reconducted -with an army a fugitive Indian prince, and rendered India tributary. -Two other invasions took place under the Persian monarch -_Manucheher_,[152] after which the Indians recovered their liberty. -Under Kai Kobad[153] flourished Rustum, who ruled, beside other -countries, Sejistan and Kabul, conquered the Panj-áb, and carried war -into the bosom of Arya varta. This country was also attacked by -Afrasiab, a Turan prince,[154] then possessor of Persia. Ferdusi’s -Shah-namah indicates expeditions of Feramurs, a son of Rustum, to -India, under the reign of Kai Khosrú. We arrive at the epoch of -Gushtasp, who ordered the Indus to be explored, and although he had -not, as Herodotus asserts,[155] conquered the Indians, he entertained -religious relations with that nation. After Alexander’s conquest of -Persia, Sassan, the son of Dara, retired to Hind, where, devoted to -the service of God, he died.[156] After a very obscure period of -Persian history, Ardeshir, directed by a dream, brought an offspring -of Sassan from Kabulistan to Istakhar. We cannot doubt that at all -times a communication was open between Iran and India, where Bahram -Gor married an Indian princess, and whence Nushirvan received a -celebrated book and the game of chess. In our seventh century, the -Muhammedan Arabians, driven by the spirit of conquest, turned their -arms towards India, but stopped on the borders of the Indus. It was -reserved to Muhammedan Moghuls, mixed with Persians, to establish in -the midst of India an empire which, after eight hundred years, -disjoined by various disorders, fell into the hands of the English. - -This rapid sketch is perhaps sufficient to explain any mixture, -fusion, and resemblance of Persian and Indian doctrines and -institutions, if even we were not disposed to seek their fountain-head -in the sacred gloom of the remotest antiquity. Whatever it be, in any -case, it will no more be said, that the Dabistán was written “with -the intention to claim for Persia the pre-eminence over India, -concerning the antiquity of religious revelations.”[157] In fact, -Mohsan Fani never explicitly alludes to a comparative antiquity -between the Persians and Indians, and implicitly acknowledges the -anteriority of the Indian religion over the Zoroastrian, in a part of -Persia at least, by relating that Gushtasp was converted from the -former to the latter by Zardusht, by whom also the Indian sage, -_Sankhara atcharya_, was vanquished. - -After a more accurate examination, the resemblance between the said -religions will be found to exist certainly in particular principles -and tenets, but not at all in the general character or the spirit of -these religious systems. Nothing can be more dissimilar than the -austerity of Mezdaism and the luxuriancy of Hinduism in the -development of their respective dogmas, and particularly in their -worship, as was already observed.[158] We cannot however deny, that -not a little of the similarity in the account of different religions -belongs to the author of the Dabistán, who most naturally confounded -the ideas of his own with those of more ancient times, and used -expressions proper to his particular creed when speaking of that of -others. Thus he employs very often the term _angels_ for that of -divinities, and carries the mania of allegorising, so peculiar to the -later Muhammedan Súfis, into his description of the Indian mythology. -This sort of substitution, or these anachronisms of expression, are to -be remarked in the narrative of other authors, praised for general -correctness and veracity; I can here so much the more readily call to -mind similar inaccuracies in the accounts which Greek historians, and -in particular the philosophic Xenophon, gave of Persia, as I may add, -that in many points they agree with our Mohsan Fani. - - - [147] See above, p. 76. - - [148] His Works, vol. IV. p. 105. - - [149] _Loco cit._, p. 69. - - [150] _Ibid._, p. 51. Among the Persians is even found - _Behesht-i-Gang_, and _Gang-diz_, “the Paradise,” and “the - castle of Ganga” (Hyde, p. 170).――Mr. Julius Mohl says - (_Journal asiatique, mars_ 1841, p. 281): “Zohac is the - representative of a Semitical dynasty, which in Persia took - place of the _Indian_ dynasty, and overthrew the entirely - _Brahmanical_ institutions of Jamshid.” We see the opinion - that Hinduism once resided in Iran daily gaining ground. - - [151] The History of Hindostan, etc., by Alex. Dow, 1768, t. - I. p. 12 _et seq._ The same, by J. Briggs, 1829. Introd., - ch. p. xiv. _et seq._ - - [152] The Mandauces of Ctesias and of Moses of Chorene. He - reigned, according to Ferdusi, B. C., from 1229-1109; - according to our chronogers, from 730-715. - - [153] The Arphaxad of the Hebrews; the Dejoces of Herodotus; - the Arsæus of Ctesias; he is placed B. C. 1075 by the - Orientals; 696 years by the Occidentals. - - [154] All kings of Turan were called Afrasiáb. - - [155] Lib. IV. - - [156] See _The Desátir_, Engl. trans., p. 185. - - [157] See before, p. 75. - - [158] See page 102. - - -§ VI.――THE RELIGION OF THE TABITIAN (TIBETANS). - -The third chapter of the Dabistán treats of the religion of the _Kera -Tabitán_ (Tibitans). The author says that he received his information -from a learned man of this sect by means of an interpreter, who did -not always satisfy his inquiries; the little he says appears to belong -to a class of Buddhistic Hinduism, and not to be destitute of truth. - - -§ VII.――THE RELIGION OF THE JEWS. - -Then follows, in the fourth chapter, a short account of the religion -of the Yahuds or Jews. The author derived his notion from a Rabbin -converted to Muhammedism, and states nothing which was not really -professed by one of the Jewish sects, which, in his summary narration, -he does not distinguish. He gives a Persian translation of the first -five chapters, and a part of the sixth chapter of the Genesis from the -Hebrew original; a comparison of it with several other translations -known in Europe, proves its general accuracy; I thought it not -altother unimportant to point out the few variations which occur. - - -§ VIII.――THE RELIGION OF THE CHRISTIANS. - -It is not without great interest that an European Christian will -peruse the fifth chapter, in which a Persian treats of the religion of -the _Tarsas_, that is, “Christians.” Mohsan Fani declares, that he saw -several learned Christians, such as the Padre _Francis_,[159] highly -esteemed by the Portuguese in Goa and in Surat. We can scarce doubt, -that it was from that father, or some other Roman Catholic missionary, -that he received his information; as he portrays particularly the -Roman Catholic doctrine, of which, in my opinion, he exhibits a more -faithful idea than that which a great number of Protestants entertain, -and are wont to express. - -Every Christian may be satisfied with the picture of his religion, -which, although contracted in a small compass, is nevertheless -faithfully drawn by a foreign but impartial hand. Mohsan Fani, in -seventeen pages of our translation, states only a few circumstances of -the life of Jesus Christ, and a few dogmas relative to him as son of -God, and the second person of the holy Trinity. In the account of -seven sacraments, the eucharist is characterised in a manner which -will not fail to attract attention.[160] Scarce any rites or -ceremonies are mentioned; the greatest part of the statement relates -to the moral precepts of Christianity, which presents an advantageous -contrast with the many absurd and superstitious duties, with which -other religions are encumbered. Thus, we find confirmed in the -Dabistán that the Pentateuch of the Jews and the Gospel of the -Christians were both sufficiently familiar to Muhammedans who had any -pretension to learning. - - - [159] Probably a Portuguese. From him Mohsan Fani might have - received the information (see vol. II. p. 307) that an image - of St. Veronica is preserved in a town of Spain, probably - within the year 1641, before it was known in India that - Portugal had freed itself from the domination of Spain, - which event took place on the 1st December, 1640. On that - account, the father spoke of the peninsular sovereign as - still possessor of both kingdoms, and, instead of calling - him _king of Spain_, styled him _king of Portugal_, from - fond partiality for his native country. This remark was - suggested to me by the learned viscount of Santarem.――(See - vol. II. pp. 307. 308, note 1.) - - [160] See vol. II. p. 315. “The holiest of all the - sacraments, as it presents the Lord Jesus under the form of - bread, that it may become the power of the soul.” This - definition was most likely not that which Mohsan Fani heard - from father Francis, but the intelligent Persian might have - understood that a strong and lively representation of an - object is equivalent to its _real presence_, which latter - words must have been those used, as orthodox, by a Roman - Catholic priest. - - -§ IX.――THE RELIGION OF THE MUSELMANS. - -The author of the Dabistán, after having treated of the most ancient -religions, passes to the comparatively modern religious system of -Arabia. The Arabians, although frequently attacked, were never -conquered by the Assyrians, Medians, Persians, or Romans; they -maintained their political independance, but could not avoid nor -resist the religious influence of nations with whom they were, during -ages, in various relations. The ancient history of Arabia is lost, -like that of many other nations; so much is known of their oldest -religion, that it resembled that of the Persians and Hindus: it was -the Magism or Sabæism; the stars were worshipped as idols from the -remotest times; we read of antediluvian idols. At the time, which we -now consider, that is the seventh century of our era, all the then -existing religions seemed to be far remote from their original -simplicity and purity;[161] idolatry was dominant, and Monotheism -preserved and positively professed only in Judaism and Christianity, -although likewise corrupted by various kinds of superstition. -Followers of both these religions were settled in Arabia, to which -region the Jews fled from the cruel destruction of their country by -the Romans; and the Christians, on account of the persecutions and -disorders which had arisen in the Eastern church. - -We see by what facts, circumstances, and notions Muhammed was acted -upon, whilst nourishing his religious enthusiasm by solitary -contemplation in the cavern of mount Hara, to which he was wont to -retire for one month in every year. In his fortieth year, at the same -age at which Zoroaster began to teach 600 years before Christ -(according to some chronologers), Muhammed, as many years after the -Messiah, assumed the prophetic mission to reform the Arabians. He felt -the necessity of seizing some safe and essential dogmas in the chaos -of Magian, Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian notions; broke all the -figures of planets in the temple of Mecca, and declared the most -violent war against all plastic, graven, and painted idols; he left -undisturbed only the _black stone_, Saturn’s emblem before, and at the -time when the Jewish traditions claimed it for Abraham, and even -transported it to heaven. Muhammed preferred the latter to the more -ancient superstition; as to the rest, he abhorred the prevailing -idolatry of the Sabaians; and blamed the corruption of monotheism in -the Jews and Christians. He felt in himself the powerful spirit, and -undertook to re-establish the _Touhid_, “the unity and spiritualism of -God;” he preached with enthusiastic zeal the _Islam_, “devotedness und -resignation to God.” - -But, in order to found and to expand the great and necessary truths, -he knew no other means, but to attach the believers to his own person, -and to accustom them to blind obedience to his dictates; he -proclaimed: “There is no God but God, and Muhammed is his prophet;” he -gave them the Koran, the only holy book, in which his precepts were as -many commands proclaimed under the penalty of eternal damnation. In -the Muhammedan all spontaneity is stifled; all desire, all attempt to -be self-convinced is interdicted; every thing becomes exterior, the -religious and civil Code but one. - -Muhammed seemed not to know that religion cannot be the gift, as it is -not the property, of any single man; it belongs to mankind. Any -particular creed lives only by its inherent force, independently of -the founder, who retires and leaves nothing behind him but his name as -a mere distinction from that of another religion. Every individual -action is of little avail, if it does not proceed from the free and -pure impulse of the spirit, which must revive in all succeeding -generations. This is acknowledged in the Dabistán[162] by giving a -very philosophic explanation of the expression _prophetic seal_, or -“the last of prophets:” “That which is reared up by superior wisdom, -renders the prophet’s knowledge vain, and takes his color; that is to -say: if one hundred thousand prophets like himself realise in -themselves the person of superior wisdom, they are possessors of the -seal, the last prophets, because it is superior wisdom which is the -seal, and they know themselves to be _effaced_, and superior wisdom -existing.” Muhammed, although wise enough to connect himself with -other prophets, his predecessors, pretended however to close the -series, and to be the last of prophets, or “the seal of prophetism.” - -Vain project! immediately after him violent contests arose, - - “And discord, with a thousand various mouths.” - -Thirty years after his death his family was dispossessed of the -Khalifat. This passed to the Moaviyahs, who, residing in Damascus, -kept it during 90 years, and then ceded it to the Abbasides, who -established their seat at Baghdad. The impulse and development of the -Islam was overwhelming during the one hundred and twenty years after -the prophet’s death; the mighty spirit of conquest had arisen and -was――I shall not say irresistible――but certainly badly resisted by the -nations assailed. The Romans and Persians were then hard pressed -themselves; on the West by the Goths, on the East by the Huns:――whilst -the Greeks had sunk into general luxury and degeneracy; all feebly -sustained the attack of hardy and active men, whose native habit of -rapine and devastation was then exalted and sanctified by the name of -religion, and continually invigorated by rich, splendid, and easy -conquests. Thus, the khalifs, who were divided into two great lines, -the before-mentioned _Abbasides_ and the _Fatimites_, extended their -empire within 600 years after Muhammed, not only over the greatest -part of Asia, but also along the western shore of Africa, Egypt, -Spain, and Sicily; threatening the rest of Europe. - -After the first labors, came rest, during which the genius of the -Arabs turned to persevering study, deep speculation, and noble -ambition: this was the scientific age of the Arabs, which began in the -middle of our eighth century, and was most conspicuous in the old -seats of learning, Babylonia, Syria, Egypt, Persia, and India. But in -the numerous schools rose violent schisms and bloody contests between -philosophy and religion. In the mean time the khalifs, by becoming -worldly sovereigns, had lost their sacred character, and were in -contradiction with the principle of their origin. The crusades of the -Christians, by reviving their martial energy, maintained for some time -the vacillating power of the Khalifs, but their vast and divided -empire, assailed by Pagan nations, first in the West in 1211, and -forty-seven years afterwards in the East, fell in 1258 of our era. -Muhammedism however revived in the barbarous and energetic conquerors, -Turks, Seljuks, Albanese, Kurds, Africans, who were drawn into its -circle; and science was again cultivated in Tunis, Bulgaria, and -India. - -I thought necessary to draw this rapid historical sketch, because -within its outlines is contained the account of the Muhammedan sects -as given in the text of the Dabistán. - -Mohsan Fani himself lived in the age of general decline of -Muhammedism. He exhibits in the sixth chapter the religion of his own -nation: we may expect that he will be true and accurate. He divides -the chapter into two sections: the first treats of the creed of the -Sonnites; the second, of that of the Shiâhs. These are the two -principal sects of the Muhammedans, but divided into a number of -others, exceeding that of seventy-three, which Muhammed himself has -announced, and consigned, all except one, to eternal damnation. This -one was that of the _sonnah_ “the traditional law,” or _Jamaât_, “the -assembly.” The Dabistán explains this religion in a manner which, to -Muhammedans, might appear sufficiently clear, in spite of digressions -and want of order in the arrangement of the matter; but an European -reader will desire more light than is afforded in the text, and feel -himself perplexed to understand the meaning of frequent technical -terms, and to connect the various notions disseminated in an unequal -narrative――now too diffuse, now too contracted. The following are the -principal features of the long account of Muhammedism contained in the -Dabistán. - -Immediately after the promulgation of the Koran, which followed -Muhammed’s death, it became necessary to fix the meaning and to -determine the bearing of its text. There was one theme in which all -agreed: the grandeur, majesty, and beneficence of one supreme Being, -the Creator, ruler, and preserver of the world, which is the -effulgence of his power. This is expressed in the Koran in such a -strain of sublimity as may unite men of all religions in one feeling -of admiration. This excellence is an inheritance of the most ancient -Asiatic religion. God can but be always the object of boundless -adoration, but never that of human reasoning. Hence the Muhammedan -sects disagreed about the attributes of God. - -The residence assigned, although inconsistently with pure -spiritualism, to the supreme Being was the ninth heaven; an eighth -sphere formed the intermediate story between the uppermost heaven and -seven other spheres, distributed among so many prophets, in the same -manner as, in the Desátir, the seven prophet kings of the Péshdadian -dynasty were joined to the seven planets which they, each one in -particular, venerated. Numberless angels, among whom four principal -chiefs, fill the universe, and serve, in a thousand different ways, -the supreme Lord of creation. We recognisee the notions of the ancient -Persian religion in this, and in the whole system of divine -government. - -Another subject of violent and interminable dispute was God’s action -upon the nether world, principally upon mankind, or God’s universal -and eternal judgment, commonly called _predestination_. This subject -was greatly agitated by the _Matezalas_, _Kadarians_, _Jabarians_, and -others; they disputed - - “_Of providence, foreknowledge. will, and fate, - Fix’d fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute, - And found no end, in wand’ring mazes lost._” - -Although this subject appears to be connected with the Zoroastrian -doctrine of the two principles, “good and bad,” yet it has never been -agitated with so much violence in so many particular ways by any -religionists as by the Muhammedans. - -It has already been observed that, according to tradition, the ancient -Persian philosophy was carried in the reign of Alexander to Greece, -and from thence, after having been recast in the mould of Greek -genius, returned in translations to its original country. We find it -expressly stated in the Dabistán, that Plato and Aristotle were -acknowledge as the founders of two principal schools of Muhammedan -philosophers, to wit, those of the _Hukma ashrákín_, “Platonists,” and -the _Hukma masháyín_, “Aristotelian, or Peripatetics.” To these add -the Súfí’s _matsherâin_, “orthodox Sufis,” who took care not to -maintain any thing contrary to revelation, and exerted all their -sagacity to reconcile passages of the Koran with sound philosophy. -This was the particular profession of the _Matkalmin_, “scholastics.” -These cede to no other philosophers the palm of mastering subtilties -and acute distinctions. They had originally no other object but that -of defending their creed against the heterodox philosophers. But they -went further, and attacked the Peripatetics themselves with the -intention to substitute another philosophy for theirs. It may be here -sufficient to call to mind the works of three most celebrated men, -_Alfarabi_, _Ibn Sina_ (Avisenna), and _Ghazali_, whose works are -reckoned to be the best specimens of Arabian and Muhammedan -philosophy.[163] They contain three essential parts of orthodox -dogmatism: 1. _ontology_, _physiology_, and _psychology_; these -together are called “the science of possible things;” 2. _theology_, -that is, the discussion upon the existence, essence, and the -attributes of God; as well as his relations with the world and man in -particular; 3. _the science of prophetism_, or “revealed theology.” -All these subjects are touched upon in the Dabistán, but in a very -desultory manner. I shall add, that the author puts in evidence a sect -called _Akhbárín_, or “dogmatic traditionists,” who participate -greatly in the doctrine of the Matkalmin, and in his opinion are the -most approvable of all religious philosophers. - -The contest for the khalifat between the family of Ali, Muhammed’s -son-in-law, and the three first khalifs, as well as the families of -Moaviah and Abbas, a contest which began in the seventh century, and -appears not yet terminated in our days――this contest, so much more -violent as it was at once religious and political, occasioned the rise -of a great number of sects. Much is found about Ali in the Dabistán, -and even an article of the Koran,[164] published no where else -relative to this great Muselman, which his adversaries are said to -have suppressed. The adherents of Ali are called _Shiâhs_. - -The Persians, after being conquered by the Arabs, were compelled to -adopt the Muhammedan religion, but they preserved a secret adherence -to Magism, their ancient national creed, they were therefore easily -disposed to join any sect, which was more or less contrary to the -standard creed of their conquerors, and bore some slight conformity, -or had the least connection with, their former religion. They became -Shiâhs. - -Among these sectaries originated the particular office of _Imám_, -whose power partook of something of a mysterious nature: the visible -presence of an Imám was not required; he could, although concealed, be -acknowledged, direct and command his believers; his name was _Mahdi_, -“the director.” This opinion originated and was spread after the -sudden disappearance of the seventh Imám, called _Ismâil_. His -followers, the Ismâilahs, maintained that he was not dead; that he -lived concealed, and directed the faithful by messages, sent by him, -and brought by his deputies; that he would one day reappear, give the -victory to his adherents over all other sects, and unite the world in -one religion. More than one Mahdi was subsequently proclaimed in -different parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe――always expected, never -appearing――so that it became a proverbial expression among the Arabs -to denote tardiness: “_as slow as a Mahdi_.” We recognize in this an -ancient idea of Zoroaster: he too was to reappear in his sons at the -end of 12,000 years; rather late,――but mankind never tire of hope and -expectation. - -A creed, like that of the _Ismâilahs_, because founded upon something -mysterious, vague, and spiritual, was likely to branch out in most -extraordinary conceptions and practices. The Dabistán abounds with -curious details about them. Their doctrine bore the character of -duplicity: one part was manifest, the other concealed. Their manner of -making proselytes was not open; they acted in the dark. They first -induced the neophyte to doubt, then to despise his own creed, and at -last to exchange it for apparently more sublime truths, until, after -having sufficiently emboldened his reasoning faculty, they enabled him -to throw off every restraint of authority in religious matters. We see -in the Dabistán,[165] the degrees through which an Ismâilah was to -pass until he believed in no religion at all. - -A most remarkable sect of the Ismâilahs was that of the _Almutians_, -so called from _Alamut_, a hill-fort in the Persian province of -_Ghilan_. This fort was the seat of _Hassan_, a self-created Imám, and -became the capital of an empire, perhaps unique in the history of the -world.[166] An Imám, called by Europeans “the old man of the -mountain,” without armies, or treasures, commanded the country around, -and terrified a great part of Asia by a band of devoted adherents, -whom he sent about to propagate his religion, and to execute his -commands, which were frequently the murder of his enemies. The -executioners were unknown save at the fatal moment of action; mighty -khalifs and sultans met with their murderers among their most intimate -servants, or the guardians of their doors, in the midst of crowded -public places or in the solitude of their secret bed-chambers. The -_Fedayis_, so were they called, devoted themselves not only to the -sacred service of their Imám, but hired their arm also for profane -service to foreign chiefs, such as the Christian crusaders. Among -Europeans, these Ismâilahs were known under the name of _Assassins_, -which well answered their infamous profession, but is better derived -from _Hashishah_[167], a sort of hemp, from which they extracted an -intoxicating beverage for their frequent use. During one hundred and -sixty years the Ismâilahs were the terror of the weak and the mighty, -until they fell in one promiscuous slaughter, with the khalif of -Islámism, under the swords of the ferocious invaders who, issuing from -the vast steppes of Tartary, fell upon the disordered empire of the -Muhammedans. - -The Ismâilahs, and other sects connected with them, professed a great -attachment to an Imám, whose lineage was always traced up to Ali -through a series of intermediate descendants; but it belonged to the -_Ali-Ilahians_ to deify Ali himself, or to believe his having been an -incarnation of God. - -Another sect, the _Ulviahs_, also devoted to Ali, maintain that he was -united with the sun, that he is now the sun, and having also been the -sun before, he was for some days only united to an elemental body. -Both these sects reject the Koran. - -Here terminates the review of the second volume of the English -Dabistán. - - - [161] See, in what sense, pp. 83-84. - - [162] See vol. III. pp. 202-203. See also _ibid._, p. 229 - and note 2. - - [163] See upon this subject a recent very ingenious work: - _Essai sur les Écoles philosophiques chez les Arabes, et - notamment sur la doctrine d’Algazzalí, par Auguste - Schmölders, docteur en philosophie_, Paris, 1842. Dedicated - to M. Reinaud, member of the Institute of France, and - professor of Arabic. - - [164] See vol. II. p. 368. - - [165] Vol. II. pp. 404-407. - - [166] See vol. II. p. 433 _et seq._ - - [167] See _Mémoires géographiques et historiques sur - l’Égypte et sur quelques contrées voisines, par Étienne - Quatremère_, vol. II. p. 504. 1811. - - -§ X.――THE RELIGION OF THE SADIKIAHS. - -The third volume of this work begins with the seventh chapter, upon -the religion of the _Sadikiahs_. It is generally known that, during -the life of Muhammed, another prophet, called Musaylima, arose in the -country of Yamáma, and dared offer to himself in a letter to the -former as a partner of his sacred mission, but was treated as a liar. -He had however gained a great number of followers, at the head of whom -he was defeated and himself slain in a bloody battle against Khaled, a -general of the first Khalif, the very same year as Muhammed’s death. -We find in the Dabistán, what appears less generally known, that -Musaylima’s sect, far from being entirely crushed after his fall, -existed under the name of _Sadikias_ in the seventeenth century of our -era, and conformed to a second _Faruk_, or Koran, to which they -attributed a divine origin, and a greater authority than to the -first.[168] - -Another account, not frequently met with, is contained in the eighth -chapter of the Dabistán, concerning _Vahed Mahmud_, who appeared in -the beginning of our thirteenth century, and is by his adherents -placed above Muhammed and Ali. Among his tenets and opinions is to be -remarked that of an ascending refinement or perfection of elemental -matter, from the brute or mineral to that of a vegetable form; from -this to that of an animal body; and thence progressing to that of -Mahmud.[169] Further, the particular mode of transmigration of souls -by means of food into which men, after their death, are changed; such -food, _in which intelligence and action may reside_, becomes -continually the aliment and substance of new successive human beings. -We were not a little astonished to find these singular opinions -agreeing with the information, which Milton’s archangel Raphael -imparts to Adam, the father of mankind.[170] - - “O Adam, one Almighty is, from whom - All things proceed, and up to him return, - If not depraved from good, created all - Such to perfection, one first matter all, - Indued with various forms, various degrees - Of substance, and in things that live, of life; - But more refin’d, more spirituous, and pure, - As nearer to him plac’d or nearer tending, - Each in their several active spheres assign’d, - _Till body up to spirit work_, in bounds - Proportioned to each kind. So from the root - Springs lighter the green stalk, from thence the leaves - More aery, last the bright consummate flower - Spirits odorous breathes: _flow’rs and their fruit, - Man’s nourishment, by gradual scale sublim’d, - To vital spirits aspire, to animal, - To intellectual_; give both life and sense, - Fancy and understanding; whence the soul - Reason receives, and reason is her being, - Discursive, or intuitive ―― ―― ――.” - -This sort of hylozoism is more expanded in a particular system of -cosmogony of the same Vahed,[171] according to which the materials of -the world existed from the very beginning, which signifies from the -first appearance of _afrad_, “rudimental units.” We can never think -meanly of this opinion, when we find it coinciding with that of -_Leibnitz_ in our seventeenth century, contemporary of Mohsan Fani. -According to the celebrated German philosopher,[172] there exists -already an entirely organical preformation in the seeds of the bodies -which are born, and all souls had always pre-existed in some sort of -organized body, and shall after death remain united with an organic -whole; because in the order of nature souls are not likely to exist -entirely separated from any kind of body. In the eighteenth century -_Bonnet_, a great physiologist, maintained,[173] that all was -preformed from the beginning, nothing engendered; all organized bodies -were pre-existing in a very small compass in the germs, in which souls -may also pre-exist, these indestructible germs may sojourn in such or -such a body until the moment of its decomposition, then pass, without -the least alteration, into another body, from this into a third, and -so on; each of the germs incloses another imperishable germ, which -will be developed but in a future state of our planet, which is -destined to experience a new revolution. - -We see here the very same ideas, without any mutual communication, -entertained in the East and the West, in ancient and modern times. - -Vahed Mahmud combines his cosmogony with periods of 8000 years, eight -of which form a great cycle of 64,000 years, at the completion of -which the world is renovated. This sect is said to have been widely -spread in the world; in Persia the persecution of Shah Abbas forced -them to lie concealed. - - - [168] Vol. III. p. 1-11. - - [169] The Druids, among the ancient Britons, believed the - progressive ascent of the soul, beginning with the meanest - insect, and arriving through various orders of existence at - its human stage. The soul, according to its choice during - terrestrial life, progressed, even after death, in good and - happiness, or evil and misery; the virtuous could return to - earth and become prophets among mankind: in which belief the - ancient Britons agreed with the Indian Buddhists. - - [170] Paradise Lost, V. v. 470-488. - - [171] The Dabistán, vol. III. p. 17. - - [172] See his _Théodicée, édit. Amsterd. préface, pp._ - xxviii _et seq._ - - [173] See _La Palingénésie philosophique, ou Idées sur - l’État passé et sur l’État futur des Êtres vivans, par C. - Bonnet, de diverses Académies, Amsterd._ 1769, vol. I. pp. - 170. 198. 201. 204, etc., etc. - - -§ XI.――THE RELIGION OF THE ROSHENIANS. - -The ninth chapter of the Dabistán introduces to us _Mian Báyezid_, -who, born in the Panjáb, flourished in the middle of the sixteenth -century under the reign of Humayún, the Emperor of India. At first a -strict observer of Muhammedism, he abandoned afterwards the exterior -practices of this religion, and, devoting his mind to contemplation, -assumed with the character of a saint the title of a “master of -light;” his followers were called _Roshenians_, or “enlightened.” His -sayings, several of which are quoted in the Dabistán, express sound -reason, pure morality, and fervent piety. In the spirit of his nation -and time, and for self-defence, he took up arms against the Moghuls. -His history and that of his sons is carried to the middle of the -seventeenth century, the time of Mohsan Fani. - -Muhammed was the permanent type of a prophet, in whom the religious -and political character were united. The first Khalifs were all -military chiefs and religious men; the Koran furnished the rules of -foreign and internal policy, the final decision of every tribunal, the -inciting exclamation to combat and carnage, and a prayer for every -occasion. The founders of sects were frequently warriors, or, what in -Asia is generally the same, highwaymen and plunderers of caravans; -such was the just mentioned Miyan Bayezid, and many others. As -possessors of empires, they preserved the austere habits of ascetics: -they carried a sabre and a rosary, counted their beads and gave order -for battle; emaciated by fasts, covered with a woollen mantle, sitting -upon the bare ground, they disposed of empires and received the homage -of millions of men. - -The Mohammedans preserved their religion, as long as they were -militant: because all states of mental excitement are apt to support -each other. But, in solitary retirement, and in the precincts of -schools, the doctrine of Muhammed was put to the test of reason: now -began the struggle between religion and philosophy. Fearful to part at -once with early impressions and national feelings, attempts to -reconcile faith and reason were made; religious philosophers had -recourse to allegory, in order to rationalize strange and absurd -dogmas and practices; for the literal they substituted a mystical -sense; under arbitrary acceptations and interpretations, the -foundation of the doctrine itself disappeared, or was confounded with -some old dogma renewed, if not one entirely invented: in short, the -Muhammedan religion appeared to have survived itself; its presumed -period of one thousand years was believed to be completed under the -reign of Akbar. - - -§ XII.――THE RELIGION OF THE ILAHIAHS. - -Akbar was the greatest among the Moghul emperors of India. He began in -his fourteenth year a reign environed by war and rebellion. After -having vanquished all his enemies and established peace and security -around him, he turned his attention to religion. He soon found it -right to grant unlimited toleration to all religions in his empire. -Called the “shade of God,” he took the resolution to realise in -himself the otherwise vain title bestowed by slavish flattery upon all -sovereigns of Asia, and to imitate, according to his faculties, him -who bestows the blessings of his merciful providence on all creatures -without distinction. This he declared to his fanatic son Jehangir, who -did not conceal his discontent about the building of an Hindu temple -in Benares: “Are not,” said Akbar, “five-sixths of all mankind either -Hindus or unbelievers? If I were actuated by motives similar to those -which thou ownest, what would remain to me but to destroy them all?” - -The inquisitive emperor was acquainted with the religious history of -the Persian empire; he surrounded himself with men of all -religions――Muhammedans of all sects, Hindus, Jews, and Christians, as -well as with philosophers free from superstition; he liked to question -them all, and to encourage public polemical discussions in his -presence. The Sonnites and Shiâhs reviled reciprocally the chief -personages of their adherence, the three first khalifs and Ali; -Muhammed himself was not more spared than his companions and -successors. The errors of their doctrine, the vices of their -character, and the irregularities of their conduct were freely -exposed, severely blamed, and wittily ridiculed. If Muhammedism was -treated in such a manner, other religions could not claim more -indulgence. The dramatic form, which Mohsan Fani gives to the -religious controversies, is certainly curious; we can scarce suppose -his having known the dialogues of Lucian, nor is it in the least -probable that a late French author ever saw the Dabistán and took from -this book the idea of the twenty-first chapter of his celebrated work, -entitled “Problem of religious “contradictions.”[174] The object aimed -at by these three authors was the same; but their compositions differ -from each other as much as the genius and character of the Greeks, -French, and Persians, in whose language each of them respectively -wrote. In whatsoever point Mohsan Fani may yield to the Greco-Syrian, -or to the French author, he, certainly, I will venture to say, equals -them in force, boldness, and sincerity; and perhaps surpasses either -in pointed application of truth. His objections are not vague attempts -of witticism with the intention to ridicule: they are special and -serious, directed to real and patent falsehood or prejudice; he does -not fence with imaginary shadowy adversaries, but he strikes a present -and tangible foe; his style, never tainted by affectation, is plain -and blunt, such as becomes a reformer combating popular superstition. -The controversies, the scene of which is placed before the throne, or -rather tribunal, of Akbar, obtain the imperial sanction: Muhammedism -is condemned. - -Indeed, the emperor abrogated several practices of that religion to -which he had been devoted in his first years; he confined the -cultivation of science, as taken from the Arabs, to astronomy, -geography, medicine, and philosophy, and wished to prevent the waste -of life in futile and useless studies. At last, in the month of -December, A. D. 1579, twenty-six years before his death, he -substituted for the common profession of the Muhammedans the new: -“_There is no God but God, and Akbar his khalif_ (or deputy).” He -received from a great number of Amirs and distinguished persons the -voluntary agreement and consent to four conditions, namely, the -sacrifice of property, life, reputation, and religion, by entering -into the new religious pact, called _Ilahi_, “divine.” Moreover, he -introduced in lieu of the former, a new era, to begin from the death -of his father Huinayún, that is from the year of the Hejira 963, (A. -D. 1555): it was to be called _Ilahi_; the months were regulated -according to the mode of Irán, and fourteen festivals established in -concordance with those of Zoroaster’s religion. It was to this ancient -Persian creed, that he gave the preference, having been instructed in -its sacred tenets and practices by a learned fire-worshipper who had -joined him; and from books which were sent to him from Persia and -Kirmán. He received the sacred fire, and committed it to the faithful -hands of _Abu’l fazil_, his confidential minister: the holy flames of -Zardusht blazed again upon the altars of _Aria_, and, after a -separation of many centuries, Persians and Indians were reunited in a -common worship. - -As a proof of Akbar’s expansive mind, directed to all subjects which -may interest mankind, I shall mention his having sequestered a number -of children, before they could speak, from all communition with the -rest of society, in order to know whether they would form a language. -After fourteen years of seclusion, it was found that they were dumb: -“which made it evident,” says Mohsan Fani, “that language and letters -are not natural to man――that language is of a long date and the world -very ancient.”[175] - -In the third section of the tenth chapter, the author treats of the -influences of the stars upon the nether world, a very ancient -superstition, common to most nations. Every master of fame is said to -have worshipped particularly one of the stars; Akbar also received -divine commands with regard to them. We find, in a digression of this -section, curious historical details respecting the person of Jangis -khan, his adoration of the celestial bodies, epilepsy, and singular -superstition of combs. The great conqueror addressed to his sons the -most earnest admonitions to remain faithful to the religion of the -stars, to which their fortune was attached; but fifty-three years -after his death one of his successors and a great part of his nation -embraced Muhammedism. - -The fourth section of the tenth chapter contains important information -upon the administration of India. Akbar was the first of the Moghul -emperors who considered India as his native country, and directed his -best efforts to the amelioration of its condition. Exalted to the -highest rank, not only by his birth, but also by his personal -acquirements; assisted, besides, by a train of devoted and enlightened -servants, he could promise himself duration of the new religion, which -he had fondly labored to found. In vain: it disappeared with him. -Private persons, camel-drivers, and robbers, emerging from obscurity, -such as Muhammed, and others before and after that Arabian leader, -effected more than an emperor, with every possible advantage united in -and around his person! Human intellect was perhaps then satiated with -religion; its measure was full: it could not receive any more. In -fact, after Muhammed a number of sects, but no new religion, arose: in -this sense he may, with some appearance of truth, be called the last -of prophets, or the _Khátim_, “the seal of prophetism.” - -Akbar died in 1605 A. D., eight or ten years before the birth of the -author of the Dabistán. The latter passed his youth and manhood in -India, under the reigns of that emperor’s son, Jehangir, and -grand-son, Shah Jehan, and great-grandson Aurengzeb; and was in -personal connection with the latter’s brother, the religious -Darashukoh. Mohsan Fani had therefore good opportunities to be -informed of the events of their days. The religion of the _Ilahiahs_ -is properly the last of which he treats; for what relates to the -religions of the philosophers and Súfis, the subjects of the two last -chapters, are rather selections of all creeds and opinions, than -particular religions. It will be remembered that sir W. Jones supposed -these two last chapters not to have been written by the author of the -rest of the Dabistán, which I dare neither affirm nor deny.[176] - - - [174] _Les Ruines, ou Méditations sur les Révolutions des - Empires, par M. Volney, député à l’Assemblée nationale de_ - 1789, _Paris_, 1791. - - [175] Thus, our author coincides with lord Monboddo, who - showed that language is the slow product of necessity among - men linked in society. See his work _Of the Origin and - Progress of Language_, with the motto of Horace: - - “Mutum ac turpe pecus ―― ―― ―― ―― - Donec Verba quibus voces sensusque notarent - Nominaque invenere.” - - [176] See note, p. 6, n. 2. - - -§ XIII.――THE RELIGION OF THE PHILOSOPHERS. - -In the eleventh chapter, entitled “Of the religion of the Wise,” we -find it repeated that Philosophers were divided into two great -classes: “the Eastern and the Western.” The first are the -_Hushangians_, teachers of the Greeks until the time of Plato and -Aristotle; it is believed that their philosophy, modified and refined, -returned from Greece to Asia, and was received by the Muhammedan -scholars to be adapted to their own creed. Then took place a singular -mixture and confusion of Siderism, Judaism, Christianity, Muhammedism, -and all sorts of philosophic opinions. The cosmology of the -Hushangians was preserved. Seven special prophets, Ismâil, Jesus, -Joseph, Enoch, Aaron, Moses, and Abraham, inhabit the seven -heavens,[177] to begin from that of the Moon, which is the lowest, and -rising upwards. If, in general, ten spheres are assumed,[178] they are -made the dwellings of so many intelligences. These ideas, so ancient, -as we have seen, were not disowned by eminent men in much later times. -The great Kepler, and after him Reaumur, believed that intelligences -or souls directed the movements of celestial bodies. Philosophers, -struck with the marvellous order of nature, were adverse to admitting -any mechanism――the very name of which frightened them; they therefore -called all occult powers souls or spirits. The same idea is adopted in -morality: whatever is praiseworthy is _angelic_, whatever blamable, -_satanic_. _From goodness arises an angel; from badness, a Satan_: so -said the prophet. Such simple and truth-like ideas were either -originally disguised under the vest of fiction; or existing traditions -of various origin were afterwards more or less ingeniously interpreted -as allegories. Thus, the ordinary names, expressions, tenets, -traditions, and practices of the Arabian prophet received symbolic, -allegoric, mystic interpretations. The _Kabah_ (the square temple of -Mecca), the holy centre of a living, circumambulating world, becomes -an emblem of the sun; its famous _black stone_, hollowed by the kisses -of the pious, represents Venus, the bright star on the borders of -heaven; _paradise_, its milk, honey, wine, _Tuba_ (tree of beatitude), -_Hur_ and _Kasur_ (nymphs and palaces) allude to intellectual -delights; _hell_, its _Zakum_ (tree of nature), and torments, are -explained as unavoidable consequences of depravity. Such -interpretations of the Muhammedans seem often to be like their bridge -_Sirat_, which connects heaven and hell, _sharp as a razor and thin as -a hair_. _Transmigration_, or rather reproduction, is admitted, -although not easily reconciled with the resurrection of the same body. -_The blasts of the trumpet_, and the whole scene of the resurrection -lose their materialism in a sort of rational allegory. _The other -world_ is the destruction and renovation of nature at the completion -and renewal of great periods of time, one of which comprised 360,000 -solar years. _Resurrection_ is “the wakening from the sleep of -heedlessness;” whenever an intellect attained that degree of -perfection, it has returned to its origin; it is restored to life; -this indubitably happens when nothing material exists: for, “where -there is no body, there is no death.” - -After having treated in this way the great dogmas of religion, the -Muhammedan philosophers found it not more difficult to rationalise -every circumstance respecting their prophet, he who obeyed the voice -of an invisible speaker. Did Muhammed really _split the moon_? Not in -the least――splitting is penetrating from the exterior into the -interior; the fissure of the moon typifies nothing else but the -renunciation of the external for the internal, which is “the superior -wisdom;” who possessed it more than the prophet (the peace of God be -with him!) he, the master of the _lunar sphere_? This, with the -Orientals, is the seat of human intelligence and perfection.[179] One -of their greatest scholars, or as they say “the learned of the world,” -known to us under the name of Avisenna, undertook to give a reasonable -account of Muhammed’s _ascent to heaven_, and framed a wonderful -romance of mystic spiritualism. He terminates by explaining how the -prophet, after his return from such a journey, could find his -bed-clothes still warm: “He had travelled with his mind, and when he -had completed his mental task, returned back to himself, and in less -than an eye’s twinkling recovered his former state; whoever knows, -understands why he went; and whoever knows not, looks in vain for an -explanation.” - -We may, not without interest, observe the natural process of the human -mind in reviewing and reforming conceptions, the original form of -which is not seldom entirely obliterated. The author of the Dabistán -does more than satiate the most inquisitive reader with allegoric, now -and then very fanciful, interpretations, which he continues, not -without repetitions of the same subjects, through the subsequent -chapter, upon which I am about to touch. Mohsan Fani, here as -elsewhere, fails not to adduce several philosophers of more ancient as -well as of his own times. Among the latter is _Hakim Kamran_, whose -free and sound opinions, about the origin of societies and the -prophets regulating them, will be read with some interest; as will -also the account of the books which Kamran read and explained, whence -the state of literature of those times may be inferred. - - - [177] See (vol. I. p. 293, note 1) the seven heavens under - particular names, as given in the Viraf-namah, and the - explanation of them. The seven prophets above-named are - somewhat differently distributed by other authorities. See - the notes to Avisenna’s explanation of Muhammed’s ascent to - heaven (vol. III. pp. 186. 189). I shall subjoin the - distribution of the seven prophet-kings, according to the - Desátir, and that of seven Jewish and Christian prophets, - according to the notes just referred to: - - PLANETS: ACCORDING TO ACCORDING TO - THE DESATIR. MUHAMMEDAN AUTHORITIES. - - Saturn, Inhabited by Gilshaw. Inhabited by Abraham. - Jupiter, ―― Siamok. ―― Moses. - Mars, ―― Hushang. ―― Aaron. - The Sun, ―― Tahmuras. ―― Idris. - Venus, ―― Jemshid. ―― Joseph. - Mercury, ―― Feridun. ―― Jesus, St. John. - The Moon, ―― Minocheher. ―― Adam. - - [178] See the Cosmology of the Desátir, compared with that - of the modern Orientals, vol. III. p. 143, note. - - [179] According to the Occidental fabulists (see Ariosto’s - _Orlando Furioso_, canto XXXIV), the moon holds, in a strait - valley between two mountains, all that mortals lose here - below: fame, tears and sighs of lovers, lost time, futile - designs, vain desires, ancient crowns, all instruments of - deceit, treaties, and conspiracies, works of false coiners - and knaves, the good sense of every body, is there bottled; - all is there except folly, which remains below, and never - quits the earth: - - _Sol la Pazzia non v’è poca, nè assai, - Chè stà quaggiù, nè se ne parte mai._ - - -§ XIV.――THE RELIGION OF THE SUFIS. - -We arrive at the last chapter, “_Upon the Sufis_;” the most abstruse -of the twelve, but to which we are well enough prepared by the -contents of the former. - -Súfism, according to the Dabistán, belongs to all religions; its -adherents are known, under different names among the Hindus, Persians, -and Arabians; it appears to be nothing else but the rationalism of any -sort of doctrine. It could never be the religion of a whole nation; it -remained confined to the precincts of schools and societies. - -In the work before us we find it stated, that the belief of the pure -Súfis was the same as that of the Ashrakians (Platonists): we know -what the Muhammedans have made of it. According to the Imám Koshairi, -quoted by Jâmi,[180] the Muselmans, after Muhammed’s death, -distinguished the eminent men among them by no other title but that of -“the companions of God’s apostle.” These were, in the second -generation, called _Tábáyún_, “followers.” Afterwards the Islamites -were divided into divers classes; those among them who particularly -devoted themselves to the practice of religion, were named “servants -of God,” which name was, after the rise of numerous sects, claimed by -some from among all the different sectaries. It was then that the -followers of the orthodox doctrine, in order to preserve the purity of -their faith and the strength of their piety, assumed the name of -_Súfis_, which name became celebrated before the end of the second -century of the Hejira, that is, before the year 815 of our era. We may -believe one of the greatest scholars of Muhammedism, _Ghazáli_, who -ranged himself among the Súfis of his time towards the end of our -eleventh century, when he declares that in their society he found rest -in believing one God, the prophet, and the last judgment: this is the -faith of the _orthodox Súfis_. - -The assumption of any particular name carries men, who so distinguish -and separate themselves from their fellows, much further than they -themselves at first intended, particularly when the distinction and -separation are founded upon vague and indeterminate notions of -metaphysics. Under the impression, that there are secrets upon which -their salvation depends, they will stretch reason and imagination to -penetrate them. The Súfis are divided, according to their own -phraseology,[181] into three classes: “_the attracted_, _the -travellers_,” and “_the attracted travellers_;” the last of whom -combine the qualities of the two former. I will class them here, with -respect to their doctrine and manners, into five orders. - -1. The religious Súfis, in general, are occupied with something beyond -the limits of our natural consciousness; they exercise to the utmost -their inward organ or inner sense, and acquire a philosophic -imagination―― - - “The vision and the faculty divine.”[182] - -Such was the prophetic gift of Muhammed, and as long as they adhere to -his sayings, they are _the orthodox Súfis_, whom I have already -mentioned. - -2. Another order endeavor to comprehend, to fix, and to explain the -attributes of God; the holy object sanctifies their efforts; -unattainable, it exalts their souls above themselves; -incomprehensibility yields to the sacred power of self-intuition; -mysterious darkness to celestial light; their intellect, no more -terrestrial, “knows its own sun and its own stars;”[183] by continual -mental excitement they produce in themselves (according to their own -phraseology) a state of intoxication; in the full enjoyment of their -liberty, they approach the Supreme Being, and finally fancy an -intimate union with their Creator. These are the _mystic Sufis_. - -Man, to express his most fervent adoration of the Divinity, uses the -expressions by which he is wont to address the object of his most -tender affections; he has but the fire of earth to kindle in sacrifice -to heaven; and to elevate his soul to the Supreme Being, he makes -wings of the most lively sentiments which he ever experienced, and can -excite in himself. The intensity of inward feeling breaks loose in -outward demonstrations, gesture, song, and dance―― - - “Mystical dance, which yonder starry sphere - Of planets, and of fix’d, in all her wheels - Resembles nearest, mazes intricate, - Eccentric, intervolv’d, yet regular, - Then most, when most irregular they seem.”[184] - -Such in the poet’s eye is the dance of angels, but less refined must -be that of mortals, and really one sort of it strangely contrasts with -the usually grave deportment of bearded ample-robed Muselmans, from -Muhammed, who gave the example, down to the Durvishes of our days, -who, with frantic howls and vehement whirling motions, by ludicrous -and unseemly exhibition, destroy the whole gravity of inward -intention. Mohsan Fani adduces some instances of dancing, and quotes -throughout his work verses of mystical poetry upon Divine love, in -glowing expressions belonging to profane passion. It is known how -equivocal in their meaning they appear in the works of Jelal eddin -Rumi, Sâdi, Hafiz, and others.[185] - -3. It was not always vehement enthusiasm which was nourished in the -contemplation of one Supreme Being; mysticism, in Súfis of a milder -character, became _quietism: he to whom all things are one, who -draweth all things to one, and seeth all things in one, may enjoy -peace and rest of spirit_. I have quoted the words of an English -bishop, Jeremy Taylor, and might borrow similar passages from a more -ancient Christian bishop, Synesius,[186] for expressing a sort of -purely _spiritual pantheism_. But there is another, which seems not to -exclude materialism: the great cause from which the infinite series of -all material and spiritual existences originates, is enveloped, as it -were, with the vest of the universe; never known as to its essence, -but always felt in its manifestations; it is - - “All in all, and all in every part.”[187] - -In short, God is all, and all is God. This appeared not more -incomprehensible, but less complicated than any other system to the -_pantheistical Súfis_. - -4. After excessive efforts to transcend the limits of his nature, the -philosophic inquirer re-enters into himself, and coerces his futile -attempts by the precept: “Know thyself.” Having, as it were, recovered -himself, and feeling that every thing proceeds from the depth of his -mind, he sees himself in every thing; heaven and earth are his own; -“he demands from himself whatever he wishes;” for he is every thing; -he finds the God whom he sought in himself, in his own heart, and -says, “Who knows himself, knows God.” This is religious psychology, -the creed of the _egotist class of Súfis_. - -It is a fact which appears incredible, but is too well attested for -the admission of a doubt, that Súfis believed themselves to be gods, -and adhered to their belief, amid torments, until death.[188] This -psychological fact may be explained by considering that, according to -Súfism, God is nothing else but an idea of the highest perfection; -_he_, says our author, _from whose sight both worlds vanished, who in -the steps of right faith arrived at the rank of perfect purity, from -truth to truth, became God_; that is, he became one with his own idea -of perfection, which cannot be disputed to him; his divinity is an -illusion, but nothing else to him is the world; it is all and nothing, -dependent upon his own creation and annihilation. - -V. Transacting as it were directly with the Divine Being, the Súfis -throw off the shackles of the positive religion; pious rebels, they -neither fast nor make pilgrimages to the temple of Mecca, nay, they -forget their prayers; for with God there is no other but the soundless -language of the heart. From excess of religion they have no religion -at all. Thus is confirmed the trite saying that “extremes meet.” “_The -perfection of a man’s state_,” says Jami, “_and the utmost degree to -which saints may attain, is to be without an attribute, and without a -mark_.” The most fervent zeal sinks into the coldest indifference -about religion. The author of the Dabistán declares positively,[189] -that “whoever says that the Muselmans are above the Christians, does -not know the true Being.” But the whole creed of an _emancipated_ -(this is the name I give to one belonging to the fifth order of Súfis) -uniting in himself the egotist, pantheistic, and mystical Súfi will be -found in the following verses of Jelal-eddin Rúmi, before mentioned: - - [190]“O Moslims! what is to be done? I do not know myself; I - am neither Jew, nor Christian, nor Gueber, nor Moslim; I am - not from the East nor from the West; nor from land nor sea; - neither from the region of nature nor from that of heaven; - not from Hind nor China; not from Bulgaria nor Irak, nor - from the towns of Khorassan. I am neither water nor dust, - wind nor fire; not from the highest nor deepest, neither - self-existent nor created; I am not from the two worlds, no - son of Adam, not from hell nor from heaven, nor paradise. He - is the first, the last, the interior, the exterior; I know - but him, Yahu! Yahu! Menhu! I looked up, and saw both worlds - to be one; I see but one――I seek but one――I know but one. My - station is without space, my mark without impression; it is - not soul nor body; I am the soul of souls. If I had passed - one single day without thee, I would repent to have lived - one single hour. When one day the friend stretches out his - hand to me in solitude, I tread the worlds under my feet, - and open my hands. O Shams Tabrizi,[191] I am so intoxicated - here that, except intoxication, no other remedy remains to - me.” - -We know, by the preceding, what the Súfi is not; we shall now learn -what he is. - - “O Moslims! I am intoxicated by love in the world. I am a - believer――an unbeliever――a drunken monk; I am the Shaikhs - Bayazid, Shubli, Juneid, Abu Hanifa, Shafei, Hanbeli; I the - throne and tent of heaven, from the dust up to the Pleyads; - I am whatever thou seest in separation and enjoyment; I am - the distance of two bows-length[193] around the throne; I am - the Gospel, the Psalter, the Koran; I am _Usa_ and - _Lat_,[194] the cross, the _Bál_ and _Dagon_,[195] the - Kâbah, and the place of sacrifice. The world is divided into - seventy-and-two sects, but there is but one God; the - believer in him am I; I am the lie, the truth, the good, the - evil, the hard and the soft, science, solitude, virtue, - faith, the deepest pit of hell, the greatest torment of - flames, the highest paradise, Huri, Risvan,[196] am I. What - is the intent of this speech? Say it, O Shams Tabrizi! The - intended meaning is: I am the soul of the world.” - -After having sounded human nature in its depth, and viewed it in its -various forms, the Muhammedan philosophers conceived a high idea of -man in general, and call him _insan kamil_, “the perfect man.” He is -the reunion of all the worlds, divine and naturaf, universal and -partial; he the book, the pure, sublime, and venerable pages of which -are not to be touched, nor can be comprehended, but by those who have -thrown off the dark veils of ignorance. His soul is to his body what -the universal soul is to the great world, which bears the name of “the -great man.” - -Sir William Jones refers,[197] for a particular detail of Súfi -metaphysics and theology, to the Dabistán. These are given with a -particular phraseology, for which it is not easy to find corresponding -expressions in any European language; and which I have endeavored, to -the best of my power, to explain in my notes. A particular -signification is attached even to the most common terms, such as -state, station, time, duration, existence, non-existence, possibility, -presence, absence, testimony, sanctity, annihilation, etc., etc. -Besides, we find particular divisions and classifications: different -attributions and names of the Deity, the unity of which is to be -preserved in all; the division of spirits, prophetism, true and false -miracles, revelation, inspiration; four sorts of mankind, as many of -life and death; seven degrees of contemplative life, in each of which -degrees the Súfi sees a different color; four lights of God; four -sorts of manifestations, the sign of which is annihilation, called -“the science,” or “positive knowledge.” Further we meet with a -metempsychosis for the imperfect soul, and an _appearance_ for the -perfect; even with a geography of the invisible, the land of shades in -the towns of _Jabilkha_, _Jabilsa_, and _Barzah_, etc., etc.; and, in -addition, manifo I pinions of Asiatic philosophy. - -Here should be pointed out how Muhammedan or other Súfis may be -confounded with the Hindu Yogis or Sanyásis, although in reality -distinguishable from each other. The Yajur veda, and other sacred -books of the latter inculcate the precept that a man ought to acquire -perfect indifference concerning the whole exterior world, and in all -places to lay aside the notion of diversity. This is what a Yogi or -Sanyasi endeavors to attain: he quits every thing, house, wife, -children, even his _caste_; the world has no more right upon him than -he upon the world. In this he agrees with the Súfi; but the latter -generally aspires to the divine gift of inspiration, prophetism, -mystical enthusiasm, whilst the common state of a Yogi is that of -complete impassiveness or torpor. - -It is only towards the end of the Dabistán that Mohsan Fani mentions -particularly the _Sabeans_, whose religion was, from the very -beginning of the work, treated of under different names of the ancient -Persian religions, such as _Yezdanians_, Jamsaspians, etc., etc. - - - [180] See _Journal des Savans, décembre 1821_, pp. 721, 722, - _art. de Silvestre de Sacy_. - - [181] The _Sálik_, _Mejezub_, and _Mejezub Salik_. (See A - Treatise on Sufism, or Muhammedan Mysticism, by lieutenant - J. William Graham. In the Transact. of the Lit. Soc. of - Bombay, vol. I. p. 99, 1811. - - [182] Wordsworth. - - [183] “―― ―― ―― Solemque suum, sua sidera norunt.” - _Æneis_, c. VI. v. 641. - - [184] Milton’s Paradise Lost, V., v. 620-624. - - [185] The two first give their name to the mystic and moral - age; from 1203 to 1300; the third to that of the highest - splendor of Persian lyrical poetry and rhetoric, from 1300 - to 1397 of our era.――(See _Schöne Redekünste Persiens Von - Joseph Von Hammer, Wien_, 1818.) - - [186] He was born in Cyrene, in Africa, towards the end of - our fourth century, and died, about 430, bishop of - Ptolemais. - - [187] Cowley. - - [188] See vol. III. p. 291 n. 1. - - [189] See vol. III. pp. 123 n. 4; 293 n. - - [190] I follow the German translation of Baron von Hammer, - _loco cit._, p. 189. - - [191] Shams-eddin Tabrisi, whom Jelal-eddin names at the end - of nearly all his lyric poems, is said to have been the son - of Khuand Ala-eddin, chief of the Assassins (Ismâilahs). He - gained a great celebrity as a Súfi and a saint. From Tabriz, - from which town he took his surname, he came to Konia; there - Jelal-eddin chose him for his spiritual guide, and remained - attached to him all his life, which terminated A. D. 1262. - Shams-eddin survived him. The tombs of the master and - disciple, near each other in Konia, are even in our days - objects of veneration to pious Muselmans. - - [192] _Ibid._, p. 191, - - [193] The distance to which Muhammed approached God in - heaven. - - [194] Two Arabian idols, the Dusares and Allitta of - Herodotus. - - [195] Syrian deities. - - [196] The guardian of paradise. - - [197] In his Treatise on the mystical poetry of the Persians - and Hindus: vol. IV. of his Works, p. 232. - - -§ XV.――RECAPITULATION OF THE CONTENTS OF THE DABISTAN. - -Thus I have indicated the principal contents of the Dabistán. -Considering the philosophic opinions touched upon, we may remark that -truth, although in different times and places variously colored, -veiled, sometimes mutilated, often running into falsehood, is -nevertheless widely diffused, inasmuch as it reappears in the -concurring declarations of the greatest thinkers of all times. Thus, -among the notions of the Asiatics, we find implied the sense of the -ἐντελέχεια (_entelechia_) of Aristotle, this untranslatable word,[198] -which however can but signify “some continued and perennial -motion,[199] activity, moving force, perfection, principle of -things”[200]――we find _time_ and _space_, the necessary substrata of -all our notions, as taught by the Kantians――the want of substantial -reality in the objects of senses, maintained by the sceptics in -general――the prototypes and ideas of the Pythagoreans and -Platonists――the necessary connections of all things of the Stoics――the -atomic doctrine of Moschus, Leucippus, Democritus, Empedocles, -etc.――the universality of sensation and life of the Hermetites――the -preformation and pre-existence of the soul, alleged by Synesius, -Leibnitz, and others――the successive transformation, transmigration, -gradual perfection of beings; the periodical renovation of the world -professed by many Greek schools――the palingenesis of Bonnet――the _one_ -and the _all_ of Parmenides, Plotinus, Synesius, Spinoza, not to omit -the refined Egoismus of Fichte, etc., etc. I shall not proceed further -in the enumeration of opinions ascribed in the Dabistán to different -sects, and reproduced in the doctrine of celebrated ancient and modern -philosophers of Europe. Who will realize that criterion of true -philosophy indicated by the great Leibnitz, namely, that which would -at once collect and explain the fragments of truth scattered through -all, and apparently the most incongruous, systems? - -This is perhaps the prize to be gained, not by one mortal, but by a -series of generations, in a laborious task, so often interrupted and -recommenced, but never abandoned. The struggle of the human mind is -without term, but not without aim. We see two principal movers of -human intellect――PHILOSOPHY and RELIGION. The one employs reason as a -sufficient power for the solution of a solvable problem, which -comprehends knowledge, morality, and civilisation. The other distrusts -reason, and relies upon a supernatural power for the revelation of a -secret, or for the word of an enigma, which relates to a destination -beyond the bounds of this world. The philosopher, self-confident, is -liable to error for various reasons; but always capable of correction -and improvement, in the only possible way, that of self-activity, the -virtuous exertions of his faculties towards attainable perfection in -his whole condition. The religionist is exposed to deception by his -gratuitous faith in superhuman guidance, and, if mistaken, is -precluded from regress and improvement by his essential virtue, -fidelity; that is, the pious surrender of his soul to a spiritual and -mystical sovereignty. The Dabistán shows us more religionists than -philosophers; it is the school of sects, or rather that of inveterate -superstition, with which, in spite of the correctives which human -nature affords to its errors, the general character of the Asiatics -remains stamped, from time immemorial to the present day. - -Although the twelve chapters of the Dabistán bear the titles of as -many religions, the author says himself, at the end of his work, that -there are only _five_ great religions――those of the Hindus, Persians, -Jews, Nazareans, and Muselmans. He no where mentions the Egyptians nor -the Chinese, apparently because, in his times and long before, no -trace of the Egyptian religion existed, although it certainly had once -occupied a great circle of influence, and because the Chinese creed -was known to be Buddhism. - -The five religions mentioned constitute indeed so many bases, upon -which the whole creed of mankind has been, and remains founded. They -comprise, in general, _polytheism_ and _monotheism_. In all times and -places, the religion of the “Enlightened” was distinguished from that -of the “Vulgar;” the first as interior, being the product of universal -reason, was every where nearly uniform; the second, as exterior, being -composed of particular and arbitrary rites and ceremonies, varied -according to the influence of the climate, and the character, history, -and civilisation of a people. But, in the course of time, no religion -remained entirely the same, either in principle or form. Polytheism, -by mere simplification, tended to monotheism; this itself, in its -awful incomprehensibility, was modified according as it originated, or -assumed its notions, from anthropomorphism, hylozoism, spiritualism, -or pantheism. Nor did any religion remain simple and pure, as -proceeding from only one principle; all religious ideas, elemental, -sidereal, allegorical, symbolical, mystical, philosophical, and others -were mixed, as well as all sorts of worship interwoven. It is now -impossible to range in chronological order their rise and transition -into different forms. Still the one or the other of these kinds -predominated: thus _physiolatry_, or “the adoration of personified -nature,” in India; _astrolatry_, or “the worship of stars,” in Arabia -and Iran; none of the religions entirely disclaimed _monotheism_, -which was positively and exclusively professed in Judaism, -Christianity, and Muhammedanism. - -Magism and the three last-named religions were founded or modified by -holy personages, or prophets, that is, by individuals whose historical -existence in more or less remote times is positively fixed; Hinduism -alone acknowledges _Manu_ as an ideal or mythological person, whose -laws are however derived from Brahma himself. This may perhaps be -assumed as a proof of its remotest antiquity; and India, having been -less disturbed by invasions, and conquered in much later times by -foreign nations, preserved its institutes complete in their -originality. There is scarcely a tenet to be found in any other creed -which does not, at least in its germ, exist in the Hindu religion. - -It is most remarkable that, although men revered as divine messengers -of religion have existed, still the works containing the heaven-sent -doctrine are, either not at all or not incontestably, ascribed to -them; and in any case devolved upon posterity in a more or less -corrupted and mutilated state; so as to entail for ever an -inexhaustible subject of dispute, a heavy task for belief, and severe -trial of faith. If the Vedas are the best preserved, it is to no -general purpose, inasmuch as they are the least known and most -obscure. These facts the author of the Dabistán has set in full light, -and says,[201] as it were to tranquillise mankind with regard to the -multifarious inheritance of their prophets: “The varieties and -multitudes of the rules of prophets proceed only from the plurality of -names; and as in names there is no mutual opposition or contradiction, -the superiority in rank among them is only the predominance of a name. -To this I subjoin another passage, although it occurs in connection -with another subject:[202] “The time of a prophet is a universal one, -having neither priority nor posteriority――neither morning nor -evening:” that is, if I understand these words: As the same sun ever -shines upon us, so shines the same wisdom of all times, incorruptible -in its divine source. - -If we take a rapid comparative view of the principal features of the -five religions mentioned, we find _emanation of all beings, -intellectual and material, from one great source_, to be the -fundamental and characteristic dogma of Hinduism, established and -developed in the most explicit and positive manner. _The division of -supernatural beings in good and bad_ is adopted in the five religions, -but in Magism it is of a somewhat different origin: for Ahriman and -his host are not rebellious or fallen good genii; they are an original -creation. _A primitive innocence and posterior corruption_ is -generally believed; but by the Hindus as coming from riches and -abundance, by the other nations as caused by seduction of the bad -spirits. _The destruction of mankind by a deluge_ is no part of the -Persian creed; it occurs in the Indian as one of the past periodical -renovations of the world, which are to be followed by others, and is -also admitted by the Persians, whilst the Jews, Christians, and -Muhammedans believe a deluge not very ancient, as a punishment of -human depravity. _Incarnations of the Deity for the benefit of -mankind_, are believed only by Hindus and Christians; to the latter -belongs exclusively the dogma of _a propitiatory sacrifice. Human -souls, immaterial_, have pre-existence according to the Vedas and the -Zand-Avesta; in the first, as parts of the Divinity; in the latter, as -created in their _fervers_, or “pre-established ideals” at the -beginning of the world. _Transmigration_ is taught in the sacred books -of the Hindus and Persians. _The immortality of the soul, reserved to -future beatitude or damnation_, is maintained generally, less -positively, by the ancient Jews; the righteous are cheered by the -prospect of the same heaven, the wicked threatened by the same -punishments, which are held to be eternal by Christians and -Muhammedans; the Hindus and Persians place the future life in a long -series of purifications or _purgatories_, leading, howsoever late, -finally to heaven, to which, according to the first, the most perfect -only are admitted immediately after their terrestrial life, and are -not to be born again, except by their own choice. _The resurrection -with the same body, and the last judgment_, are among the most -essential tenets of the Magi, Christians, and Muhammedans; the other -world is vaguely represented among the ancient Hebrews. It is just to -attribute to the Persians exclusively one of the most beautiful -personifications that was ever imagined:[203] the soul of the deceased -meets at the bridge of eternity an apparition either of an attractive -or repulsive form; “Who art thou?” asks the uncertain spirit, and -hears the answer: “I am thy life.” - -Although the variety and multitude of human conceptions may appear -boundless, yet they may perhaps be reduced to a few fundamental -principles. In general, there is one object common to all sorts of -religion: this is to detach man from gross sensual matters, and to -accustom him to hold converse with holy supernatural beings, guides to -salvation, _omnipresent_ witnesses of all his actions, remunerators of -good, punishers of bad deeds; the belief in such beings, one or more, -is in fact the most essential support of morality, which, being fixed -in each individual, insures the peace and happiness of all. In short, -the most important object of all religion is to ennoble, refine, and -sanctify man’s inmost thoughts and feelings, as well as his exterior -actions. No wonder, that the same virtues are recommended by all -religions. - -But, if these virtues be the same as to names, there is a great -difference as to their practical application. Thus, the Hindus, -tending excessively to the extinction of sensual propensities, and a -contemplative life, destroy spontaneity, and produce apathy. The -Persians recommend more practical virtues. Both nations, however, as -well as the Jews and Muhammedans, are subject to a great number of -dietetical and ritual observances, which divert them from useful -activity, confine their practical sense, and render inert the innate -perfectibility, the most precious prerogative of mankind. Among all -the Asiatic nations, considered in this work, theocracy, that is, the -junction of the religious and civil laws, doubles the power of -despotism, and commands equally the spiritual and material, the -present and the future world. The Western Christians were in the -course of time fortunate enough to modify the _Asiatic_ morals, to -enlarge the circle of civilization, and to open to themselves a -boundless prospect of progressive knowledge, morality, and happiness. - -Finally, there is one idea common as an adjunct to the five religions -of mankind. Common are their failings, common their sufferings, common -is also their consolation――hope. Always regretting a purity, -simplicity, and independence, supposed to have been lost in the past, -because not to be found any where in the present, and never exempt -from oppression, men look to the future, and listen gladly to the -promise of universal reform and restoration to one rule, which each -religionist says, will be his own, to be effected among the Hindus by -_Kalki_, an incarnation of Brahma[204], among the other nations by the -reappearance of their respective _prophet_, _Messiah_, _Mahdi_. - - “And then shall come, - When the world’s dissolution shall be ripe, - With glory and pow’r to judge both quick and dead, - To judge th’ unfaithful dead, but to reward - His faithful, and receive them into bliss, - Whether in Heav’n or Earth, for then the Earth - Shall all be Paradise.”[205] - - - [198] Hermelaus Barbaro relates that, finding the - interpretation of that word so difficult, he one night - invoked the devil for assistance. The old scoffer did not - fail to appear, but told him a word still more unintelligible - than the Greek. Hermolaus at last brought forth the strange - term _perfectihabia_, which, I think, nobody adopted. - - [199] Cicero circumscribes the word: _Quasi quandam - continuatam motionem et perennem_ (_Tusc. Quæst._, I. 10). - Budæus translates it _efficacia_.――(On this subject see - _Thesaurus Græcæ linguæ ab Henr. Stephano constructus_, new - edit., Paris, 1838.) - - [200] Leibnitz (Op. t. II. p. II. p. 53; t. III. p. 321), - after having said, that to the material mass must be added - some superior principle, which may be called _formal_, - concludes: “This principle of things, whether we call it - _entelechia_, or ‘force,’ is of no matter, provided we - recollect that it can only be explained by the notion of - force.” - - [201] Vol. III. p. 276. - - [202] _Ibid._, p. 289. - - [203] Vol. I. p. 286. - - [204] Vol. II. p. 24, and _Vishnu-purana_, transl. of - Wilson, p. 484. - - [205] Milton’s Paradise Lost, XII. v. 458-464. - - - - -PART III. - -CONCLUSION. - - -§ GENERAL APPRECIATION OF THE DABISTAN AND ITS AUTHOR. - - -Mohsan Fáni collected in the Dabistán, as I hope to have shown by a -rapid review of its principal contents, various important information -concerning religions of different times and countries. His accounts -are generally clear, explicit, and deserving confidence; they agree in -the most material points with those of other accredited authors. Thus, -to quote one more instance, the accuracy of his topographic -information relative to the marvellous fountain in Kachmir is in the -main confirmed by that published by Bernier who had visited the -country. Our author enlivens his text by interesting quotations from -the works of famous poets and philosophers, and by frequent references -to books which deserve to be known. I beg to mention the _Tabsaret al -âvam_, “Rendering quick-sighted the Vulgar,” which he regrets not to -have before his eyes. His whole work is interspersed with anecdotes -and sayings, characteristic of individuals and sects which existed in -his times. To what he relates from personal observation or other -sources, he frequently adds reflections of his own, which evince a -sagacious and enlightened mind. Thus, he exhibits in himself an -interesting example of Asiatic erudition and philosophy. - -The Dabistán adds, if I am not mistaken, not only a few ideas to our -historical knowledge, but also some features to the picture which we -hitherto possessed of the Asiatics. May I be permitted to quote a -remarkable instance relative to the latter? We are wont to speak of -the inherent apathy and stationary condition of the Muhammedans, as an -effect of their legislation. Although this general idea of their -character and state be not unfounded, yet it is carried to such an -exaggerated degree, that we think them incapable of progress. We may -therefore be astonished to find in the work before us[206] a maxim -such as this: “He who does not proceed, retrogrades,” and beside a -declaration attributed to Muhammed himself: “He whose days are alike -is deceived.” Our author, it is true, interprets it in the particular -point of view of an orthodox Súfi, who thinks that there is a degree -of mental perfection, beyond which it is impossible to rise: this was, -he says, the state of Muhammed, the prophet, always the same, from -which no ascent nor descent was possible, the perfection of unity with -God, higher than whom nothing can be: _the blackness beyond which no -color can go_. With the exception of these fits of mysticism, now and -then occurring, it is just to say that Mohsan Fani most commonly leans -to the side of progressive reform. - -For the just appreciation of his work, I think it necessary to point -out another opinion, which, very generally entertained, requires to be -considerably modified: I mean that which attributes to the Muhammedans -an unrestrained intolerance in religious matters. On that account, I -beg to refer directly to the book, which to them always was the sacred -source of all rules and precepts of conduct――the Koran. In this -astonishing farrago of truth and falsehood, we find here and there a -great extent of toleration. In fact, Muhammedism was eclectic in all -the religious ideas of its time, Magian, Jewish, and Christian. -Muhammed avowed himself to be “a man like every body;”[207] he did not -pretend, that “the treasures of God were in his power,” nor did he say -“that he knew the secrets of God, neither that he was an angel; no; he -thought only to follow what was revealed to him,”[208] so much every -body else may say and think, He professed his good-will to Christians, -“as inclinable to entertain friendship for the true believers;[209] he -exhorted his followers not to dispute, but in the mildest manner,[210] -against those who have received the Scripture, and wished to come to a -just determination between both parties, that they all worshipped not -any but God.”[211]――“Abraham,” said he, “was neither a Jew nor a -Christian, but one resigned unto God (Moslim); excellence is in the -hand of God; he gives it unto whom he pleaseth.”[212]――Still more; the -prophet seems to give a general license to the professors of every -religion to observe certain rites about which he prohibits all -disputes;[213] nay, he declares: “If the Lord had pleased, verily, all -who are in the earth would have believed in general. Wilt thou -therefore forcibly compel men to be true believers? No soul can -believe but by the permission of God.”[214] - -Although the Arabian prophet and his followers too often gave by their -conduct a strong denial to these principles, still the existence of -them in the Koran was a sanction to all those who were disposed to -profess them in words and actions. Such sentiments of religious -toleration are in accordance with similar ones expressed in many -Christian moral treatises, but in none of the latter do I remember to -have read: “that the diversities of religions distributed among -nations, according to the exigency of each, are manifestations of the -divine light and power, and that these various forms, by which God’s -inscrutable essence may be viewed by glimpses, are means of possessing -eternal beatitude, whilst here below the acquisition of knowledge is -sufficient to insure to mankind the enjoyment of concord, friendship, -and agreeable intercourse.”[215] - -These appear to be the maxims adopted by the Súfis, and particularly -by those among them who, under Akbar, professed to be _Ilahians_. The -creed of this class exists in our days, although the name has not -survived. To these we may suppose, if to any, Mohsan Fáni belonged. If -we could agree with Erskine that “he was in strict intimacy with the -sect of enthusiasts by whom the Desátir was venerated,” we should -still be obliged to avow, that his enthusiasm had not in the least -influenced his free judgment upon religious matters. His imagination -although justly exalted by sublime notions of the Divinity, certainly -appears now and then bewildered by the mysterious action of unknown -causes; but on other occasions pointing out, in a satirical vein, so -many follies, absurdities, and extravagances prevailing among mankind, -he seems to laugh at all enthusiasm whatsoever, his own not excepted. -In general, there breathes in his words a spirit of independence, -which would command attention even among us in the accustomed circle -of long-established liberty. His boldness in religious controversy -startled even sir W. Jones so much that, in characterising it by the -harsh term of _blasphemy_, the English judge appears for a moment -ready to plead for the abettors of popular superstition, who stood -confounded before the tribunal of the philosophic Akbar. - -I shall however not conceal, that Mohsan Fani sometimes paid tribute -to the prevailing ignorance and inveterate prejudices of his time, and -above all, to the sovereign power of early impressions; nor that, -although in many respects he offers in himself an honorable exception -to the general character of his countrymen, he now and then confounds -himself with them. Thus, he was far from being above all popular -superstition. The Asiatic, from the dawn of his reason, is nourished -with the marvellous, trained to credulity, and prepared for mysticism, -the bane of practical life; in short, he imbibes from his infancy a -superstition from which he never frees himself, always prone to -interpret every unusual phenomenon as a miracle. No sort of study -enables him to correct his first impressions, or to enlighten his -ignorance; natural history and experimental philosophy are not -cultivated in Asia. If not an agriculturist, mechanic, tradesman, or -soldier, he devotes himself to the intricacies of metaphysics, and -very commonly to a contemplative life; he becomes an ascetic. Thus he -knows no social life embellished by the refinement of mutual sympathy, -nor the noble vocations of a citizen who lives――with more than one -life in himself, in others, and in the whole community. Such being the -general state of Asia, let us not wonder that Mohsan Fani believed -some strange stories of miracles, and viewed with astonishment tricks -of jugglers, which he relates with serious credulity, strangely -contrasting with his usual good sense, sagacity, and judgment. Thus, -he presents to us a man standing on his head with his heels in the air -during a whole night; others restraining their breath many hours, and -remaining immoveable during two or three days; he speaks of the -miraculous effects of austerity, such as being in different places at -the same time; resuscitating the dead; understanding the language of -animals, vegetables, and minerals; walking on the surface of water, -and through fire and air; commanding the elements; leaving and -reassuming the body; and the like. But let us not forget that such -stories were told elsewhere, and in Europe, even so late as the time -in which the Dabistán was written. - -Further, although generally moral and judicious in his sentences, -grave and austere in his views, fervent and exalted in devout -contemplation, our author now and then happens to use the language of -ribaldry and indecency, which deserves serious reprobation. We shall -however remark that taste, or the sense of propriety in words and -expressions among Asiatics differs, as much as their general -civilisation, from ours. From religious austerity they banished the -elegant arts, as objects of sensuality; but, as they could not stifle -this essential part of human nature, they only prevented its useful -refinement; they clipt the delicate flower, but left the brute part of -it: hence the grossness of their jokes, expressions, and images. “To -sacrifice to the graces” is, among them, not understood at all, or -thought an abomination. But they cannot be said to _violate_ laws -which they do not know; the offence which they give from want of taste -and decency, is purely unintentional, and cannot with them have that -evil effect which, among us, it would be likely to produce. - -As to the general style of the Dabistán――it is only in the original -text itself, that it can be justly appreciated. It will perhaps -sufficiently appear from our translation that it distinguishes itself -favorably among other Oriental works with which it may be compared. -The diction is generally free from their usual bombast; it is commonly -clear, and when obscure to an European reader, it is so on account of -the strangeness and abstruseness of the matter treated. As to form――if -judged according to the rules of Western criticism, the work of Mohsan -Fani may be found deficient in the distribution and arrangement of -matter; there are useless repetitions, incoherences, disorder, abrupt -digressions, and excess, sonetimes of prolixity, at others of -concision. Although we have reason to praise him for generally naming -the source from which he drew his information, still we can but -regret, now and then, his not sufficiently authenticating nor -explaining the particulars which he relates. Thus we could wish him to -have been more explicit concerning the Desátir. Upon the whole, we -cannot accuse him of not having performed what, in his time and -circumstances, was hardly possible, and what hitherto no Asiatic -author has achieved. We ought to keep in mind how much, with respect -to the perfection of literary publications, we owe solely to the art -of printing, the practice of which, by its own nature, necessitates -and facilitates a manifold revision and correction of the text, which -otherwise could hardly take place. This alone sufficiently accounts -for the frequent defects even of the best manuscript works. - -Striking an equitable balance between faults and excellencies, and -with particular regard to the abundance of curious, useful, and -important information, I shall not hesitate to express my sincere -persuasion, that the Dabistán was worthy of the eulogy bestowed by the -great Orientalist who first brought it into public notice. - - - [206] Vol. III. p. 287. - - [207] The Koran, ch. XVIII. v. 100. - - [208] _Ibid._, ch. VI. v. 49. - - [209] _Ibid._, ch. V. vv. 86. 88. - - [210] _Ibid._, ch. XXIX. v. 45. - - [211] _Ibid._, ch. III. v. 57. - - [212] _Ibid._, vv. 61. 66. 67. - - [213] _Ibid._, ch. XX. v. 66. - - [214] _Ibid._, ch. X. vv. 99. 100. - - [215] See Epilogue. - - - - -§ II.――NOTICE CONCERNING THE PRINTED EDITION, SOME MANUSCRIPTS, AND -THE TRANSLATIONS OF THE DABISTAN. - -It is well known, that the only printed edition of the Dabistán which -exists is due to the press of Calcutta. At the end of the work will be -found the Epilogue of the editor, _Moulavi Nazer Ushruf_, a learned -Muhammedan gentleman of the district of Juanpur, who was for many -years employed in judicial offices in the district of Burdwan, and in -the court of Sudder Diwani Adawlet, in Calcutta. These particulars -were communicated to me by the favor of the honorable gentleman whose -name the said editor mentions in his Epilogue with encomium, the -sincerity of which can certainly not be questioned: it was William -Butterworth Bayley, at present director and chairman of the Honorable -East India Company. It was he, a distinguished Persian scholar, who -directed and superintended the edition of the Dabistán. Upon the -strength of his authority I am enabled to add, that the printed copy -was the result of a careful collation of several manuscript copies of -this work. One was obtained from Delhi (as mentioned in the epilogue), -and another from Bombay; two or three were in the possession of -natives in Calcutta. Although these, as it is more or less the case -with all manuscripts, procurable in India, were defective, yet we may -believe the assurance given by the editor, that “the doubts and faults -have been as much as possible discarded, and the edition carried to a -manifest accuracy.” This is confirmed by the fact, that only a few -discrepancies from the printed edition were found in two other -manuscripts, which were in England at the disposition of the late -David Shea for the translation of the first part of the Dabistán. Nor -did I find frequent deviations from the printed text in the copy which -was transcribed for me in Calcutta from a manuscript, procured from -the library of the king of Oude. Mutilated in many places, and -imperfect as is this latter, it afforded me nevertheless a few -acceptable readings. I was obliged to content myself with the -assistance of this only manuscript for the translation, as several -circumstances, among which was the lamented death of the earl of -Munster, prevented me from obtaining the use of other manuscript -copies. All circumtances considered, I do not hesitate to say, that -the printed edition of the Dabistán is more correct than any of the -manuscript copies which can be found; we have only to regret that its -typography, owing to the then imperfect state of the Oriental press in -Calcutta, is so irregular, as to be scarce entitled to any preference -over the common sort of Persian manuscripts. - -The English translation of the Dabistán was begun some time before the -year 1835, by David Shea, one of the professors of Oriental languages -at Hayleybury. He was in his early years distinguished in the -university of Dublin for his classical attainments, and remained -devoted to literature in all the various circumstances of his life. It -was not for, nor in, India――the great object and school of English -students――but in Malta, from peculiar inducement, that, by uncommon -application, he acquired the Arabic and Persian languages. After his -return to England, having been attached to the Hayleybury college――I -should not fail to add to his eulogy by saying, that he had before won -the kind interest and recommendation of sir Graves Haughton――and -having become a member of the committee of the Oriental Translation -Fund, he earned the applause of Orientalists in England, and on the -continent of Europe, by his faithful and spirited translation of -Mirkhond’s history of the early kings of Persia. Undertaking the -translation of the Dabistán, he was undoubtedly preparing to himself a -new success, the full realisation of which he was not permitted to -enjoy; the last date in his manuscript copy, in which he was wont to -mark the progress of his labor, was April 22, 1835. From this day he -appears to have withdrawn his hand from the Dabistán, and too soon -after――I shall be permitted to use the very words of the author whom -he was translating:[216] - - “He sought the stores of holy liberty, - A resting place on high, and soar’d from hence - Beyond the bounds of heaven, earth, and time.” - -It was in the beginning of the year 1837 that I was honored by the -earl of Munster, the vice president of the Royal Asiatic Society of -Great Britain and Ireland, with the proposal of completing and editing -the English Dabistán. Having already several years before been -occupied with the same work whilst pursuing my Indian studies, I was -so much the more prompted to accept the proffered honor. Engaged -however as I then was in publishing my French translation of the first -six books of the _Rajatarangini_ from the Sanscrit, I could not begin -the new work before 1841. This delay was the cause of my being -deprived of the desired honor and satisfaction of presenting my -translation to the earl of Munster, who while in the full enjoyment of -life, welcomed with a benevolent interest every contribution, however -small, to the general diffusion of Oriental history and literature; he -had accepted in Paris my Dedication a short time before his death; it -remains to me to consecrate, with a profound feeling of regret and -veneration for departed worth, the English Dabistán to his memory. - -I took charge of the manuscript copy of David Shea’s version, which -had been carried to page 201 of the printed Calcutta edition.[217] In -this there were only a few omissions to be supplied, and no other -rectifications to be made but those which a second review would have -suggested to my learned predecessor himself; his notes, and those -which I thought necessary to add, are marked each with the initials of -our respective names. - -If I found little to change, I had much to imitate in David Shea’s -translation――his faithfulness and clearness. By faithfulness I -understand not only expressing truly the sense, but also keeping -unaltered the words, figures, images, and phrases of the original, as -it is in them that the author’s national and individual peculiarity is -manifested. This sort of faithfulness may roughen or hamper the -phrase, destroy the elegance of style, and even offend good taste, but -by it alone we shall not only know, as I have just observed, the -genius of the foreign writer, but also satisfy the exigencies of -philology, which is one of the main purposes of translations not -undertaken as mere exercises of improvable eloquence. - -An author will not employ more or other words than those he thinks -necessary for being understood by readers of his own nation, religion, -school; he writes, for instance, as a Muhammedan for Muhammedans, a -Súfi for Súfis. But a translator must do his best for uniting -faithfulness with clearness, the indispensable condition of any speech -or writing; he must add what is required for illustrating the original -text, and thus submit to a charge, now and then heavier than he can -bear. - -Under the necessity of expounding the translation by notes, I was not -actuated by the ambition of being new, but only by that of being as -useful as my means permitted, that is, by endeavoring to spare the -reader time and trouble to look for dates and biographical notices of -the persons, the situation of the places, and the explanation of the -technical terms which occur in the text. Orientalists know the -difficulty of rendering in a European language the phraseology of the -Asiatic theology and philosophy. The Dabistán presents, besides the -Sanscrit, a confusion of Arabic and Persian technical expressions; -some of them have a very comprehensive signification, and for the sake -of clearness must be rendered by different terms in different places; -other expressions have at times a particular sense, and are at other -times to be taken in the common acceptation; the same terms must be -translated by different words, and different terms by the same; -finally, the matter treated of is frequently so abstruse in its nature -that professed philosophers have not yet been able to agree upon some -of the most important questions. I can therefore but apprehend that I -may not have thoroughly understood, and must confess that I have not -translated, to my own satisfaction, more than one passage relative to -Indian doctrines, and to the Muhammedan scholastic philosophy. - -The Sanscrit names and terms of Indian mythology, theology, and -philosophy are much corrupted by the Persian spelling; I have -endeavored to restore them to their original forms. I thought it right -to adduce in most cases the Sanscrit, Arabic, or Persian word at the -same time in Roman as well as Devanagari, or Arabic characters, with -its interpretation. I followed the rule proposed by sir William Jones -for writing oriental words in Roman characters, as often as I took -these words from a Sanscrit, Persian, or Arabic text; but from works -written in a European language, I was generally obliged to copy the -spelling of Oriental names: on which account, in my notes, a -regretable inequality of orthography could not be avoided. - -The Dabistán not only touches upon most difficult points of science -and erudition, but also comprises in its allusions and references -nearly the whole history of Asia. In observing this, I am necessarily -at the same time pointing to the many deficiencies which will be found -in my attempts to comment and illustrate so comprehensive and -diversified a text. The best advantage which a man obtains at the -termination of an arduous work, is to have enabled himself to make it -better, if he could begin again; but he can but humbly submit to the -decrees of an all-ruling power, which bestows upon each mortal only a -certain measure of faculties and of time. - -Desirous to fulfil my task to the best of my abilities, I did not -neglect to consult every translation of any part of the Dabistán which -had been published. I have already mentioned, in this preface,[218] -that Gladwin edited the Persian text of a part of the first chapter -with an English version which was worthy of his reputation as an -excellent Orientalist. Every thing that came from the pen of the late -doctor Leyden deserved attention. I had before my eyes his translation -of chapter IX., on the religion of the Roshenian.[219] I did not -neglect the abridged interpretation of the religious controversies -held before Akbar, given in form of a dialogue by the learned and -ingenious Vans Kennedy.[220] I perused with due regard the -explanations which the illustrious Silvestre de Sacy furnished of some -passages of the Dabistán[221] since this work became known to him in -1821, as well as the remarks cursorily made upon it by some -Orientalists. - -I did not fail also to profit by the advantages which my residence in -Paris, and my connections with distinguished cultivators of Oriental -literature, could afford me on behalf of my translation. It is my duty -to acknowledge the services which I received from the kindness of M. -Garcin de Tassy, professor of Hindostanee, whose intimate acquaintance -with Arabic and Persian literature in general, and with Muhammedan -theology in particular, is attested by several esteemed works which he -has published. The many Arabic passages, disseminated in the Dabistán, -have mostly been revised, interpreted, and referred to the Koran, by -him. M. Eugène Burnouf, professor of Sanscrit, is never in vain -consulted concerning that part of ancient philology in which he has -acquired a most particular and eminent distinction. I also constantly -experienced the most friendly readiness to tender me information, when -required, in M. Julius Mohl and baron Mac Guckin de Slane, as well as -in M. Reinaud, professor of Arabic, attached to the Royal Library, a -most distinguished conservator and most complaisant communicator of -the valuable manuscripts under his special charge. I beg these -honorable gentlemen to receive my sincerest acknowledgments. - - - [216] See vol. I. p. 131. - - [217] In the English transl. to vol. II. p. 85. - - [218] P. vi. - - [219] See _As. Res._, vol. XI. pp. 406-420; Calcutta quarto - edit.; and vol. III. pp. 26-42 of this work. - - [220] See Transact. of the Bombay Lit. Soc., vol. II. pp. - 242-270, and vol. III. of this work, p. 50 _et seq._ - - [221] See _Journal des Savans, février 1821_, Review of the - Desátir; and December, 1821, and January, 1822, Review of - Thulok’s work upon Súfism. - - - - -THE DABISTÁN, - -OR - -SCHOOL OF MANNERS. - - - - -THE DABISTÁN, - -OR, - -SCHOOL OF MANNERS. - - - [222]In the name of the bountiful and merciful God. - - Verse.[223] - - “O Thou, whose name is the beginning of the book of the children - of the school, - Thy remembrance is to the adult amongst the Sages the torch of - their nightly retirement; - Without thy name the tongue fails the palate of the barbarians, - Although they know the language of Arabia;[224] - _Having_ the heart in the body _full_ of thy remembrance, the - novice, as well as the adept, in contemplation - _Becomes_ a supreme king of beatitude, and the throne of the kingdom - of gladness. - Whatever road I took, it joined the street _which leads_ to Thee; - The desire _to know_ thy being is also the life of the meditators; - He who found that there is nothing but Thee, has found the _final_ - knowledge; - The móbed is the teacher of thy truth, and the world a school.” - -Blessing without limit to the mighty Being, the Lord of existence, the -rider upon the sun of the celestial sphere _which is_ the eye-witness -_of his glory_; _to Him_ whose servant is Saturn, Baharam (Mars) the -messenger, Jupiter the star, _the herald of good fortune_, Venus the -slave; _to Him who is_ the ornament of the throne of the empire of the -faith, and the crown of divinity of the kingdom of truth.” - - Masnavi.[225] - - “The being to whom the holy God said: - If not thee, I would not have created the worlds;[226] - That primitive wisdom and that soul of the world; - That man of spirit, and that spirit of man. - Blessing be also to the Khalifs of the faithful, and to the - Lords of the Imáns of the faith.”[227] - - Rabaâi (quatrain). - - “The world is a book full of knowledge and of justice, - The binder of which book is destiny, and the binding the - beginning and the end; - The suture of it is the law, and the leaves are the religious - persuasions; - The whole nation is formed of its disciples, and the apostle is - the teacher.” - -In this book, called “The Dabistan,” is contained something of the -knowledge and faith of past nations, of the speeches and actions of -modern people, as it has been reported by those who know what is -manifest, and see what is concealed; as well as by those who are -attached to exterior forms, and by those who discern the inward -meaning, without omission, and diminution, without hatred, envy and -scorn, and without taking a part for the one, or against the other -side of the question. - -This work is composed of several chapters. - - CHAPT. I. treats of the religion of the _Pársián_. - CHAPT. II. of the religion of the _Hindus_. - CHAPT. III. of the religion of the _Tabitían_. - CHAPT. IV. of the religion of the _Yahud_ (Jews). - CHAPT. V. of the religion of the _Tarasás_ (Christians). - CHAPT. VI. of the religion of the _Muselmáns_. - CHAPT. VII. of the religion of the _Sádakíah_. - CHAPT. VIII. of the religion of the _Váhadiáh_ (Unitarians). - CHAPT. IX. of the religion of the _Rósheníán_. - CHAPT. X. of the religion of the _Ilahíah_. - CHAPT. XI. of the religion of the Wise (Philosophers). - CHAPT. XII. of the religion of the _Súfiah_. - - - [222] The words in italic are not in the Persian text. - - [223] The five distichs are in the metre called هزج, - “hazaj,” composed of the following feet: مفعول مفاعيل فاعيل - فعولن. See _M. Garcin de Tassy, author of the “Mémoire sur - le système métrique des Arabes, adapté à la langue - Hindoustani.”_ 1832. - - [224] This distich contains the same idea as the following - of Nizámi: - هر که نه گويا بتوخاموش به - هر چه نه ياد تو فراموش به - - “It is better not to speak than to speak of another but - thee; it is better to leave in oblivion what does not remind - of thee.” _Quoted in the “Rudimens de la langue - Hindoustani,” by the author just mentioned (p. 16 and 25)._ - - [225] The two distichs are in a metre, which is a variety of - the _hazaj_, before mentioned, and is composed as follows: - مفعول مفاعلن فعولن. - - [226] This verse expresses the same idea as the following - hemistich of the Arabic poem, called Borda, and composed by - Sharf-eddin-al Búsíri: - - لولاه لما تخرج الدنيا من العدم - - “Without him the world would never have come forth from - nothingness.” This is one of the celebrated traditions - respecting Muhammed, contained in the following words: - - لولاک ما حلقت الافلاک - - “If it had not been for thee (Muhammed), the worlds would - never have been created.” This encomiastic expression has - been reproduced in several other poems, Arabic, Persian, and - Hindostani. _See upon this subject, “Les aventures de - Kamrup,” p. 146-147, and “Les OEuvres de Wali,” p. 51-52, - traduites de l’Hindoustani, par M. Garcin de Tassy._ - - [227] The manuscript of Oude has here: محسن فانی گوبه, - “Mohsen Fáni says:” which would leave no doubt upon the name - of the author of this book, if these words were not a mere - addition of the copyist. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -OF THE RELIGION OF THE PARSIÁN. - - -This chapter is divided into fifteen sections. - - SECT. I. of the religious tenets and ceremonies of the _Sipásíán_. - SECT. II. of the distinguished men amongst the _Sipásíán_. - SECT. III. of the ordinances contained in the book revealed to _Abád_. - SECT. IV. of the _Jemsháspián_. - SECT. V. of the _Samrádíán_. - SECT. VI. of the religion of the _Khodáníán_. - SECT. VII. of the tenets of the _Rádîan_. - SECT. VIII. of the religion of the _Shídrangíán_. - SECT. IX. of the belief of the _Pykeríán_. - SECT. X. of the tenets of the _Miláníán_. - SECT. XI. of the doctrines of the _Aláríán_. - SECT. XII. of the religious opinions of the _Shídábíán_. - SECT. XIII. of the religion of the _Akhshíán_. - SECT. XIV. of the belief of the _Zerdushtián_. - SECT. XV. of the doctrine of the _Mazdakíán_. - - - - -SECTION I. - -[228]Here commences the history of the tenets and ceremonies observed -by the _Sipásíán_ and _Pársíán_. - -Among the _Parsíán_, called also the _Iraníán_, is a sect styled the -_Yazadíán_ or _Yazdáníán_, _Abádíán_, _Sipásíán_, _Hushián_, -_Anushkán_, _Azarhóshangíán_, and _Azaríán_. They believe it -impossible for man, by the force of intellect, or the energy of -spirit, to comprehend the exalted essence of the Almighty and Holy -Lord. Entity, unity, identity, or all his divine attributes of -knowledge and life, constitute the fountain of his holy essence. He -is, in the most comprehensive sense, the paramount, omnipotent Lord -over all things, whether considered collectively, or in the changes -incident to their component parts. All his works and operations are in -conformity to his exalted will: if he wills, he acts; if he wills not, -he acts not; but works worthy of adoration are as inseparable from his -honored essence, as his other glorious attributes of perfection.――Urfí -of Shíráz thus expresses himself: - - “Thy essence is able to call into being all that is impossible, - Except to create one like thyself.” - -The first creation of his existence-bestowing bounty was the precious -jewel of the intellectual principle, called _Azad Bahman_; the solar -ray which constitutes the excellence of his august existence is from -the essence of the light of lights. From the effulgence of _Bahman_, -or the “First Intelligence,” proceeded another, along with the spirit -and body of the Pure Ether or Crystalline Sphere. In like manner from -this second _Serúsh_[229] or “angel” there emanated three similar -rays; so that every star in the universe, whether in motion or at -rest, that is, every planet and fixed star, and also every one of the -heavens, has its peculiar intellect and spirit. - -They also believe that the heavens exceed the compass of numbers, and -that the spheres are as many in number as the stars: also that every -star has its own firmament, but that the movements of their spheres -are in accordance with those of the zodiacal firmament. - -In like manner, each of the four elements has its separate guardian, -from the _Nuristan_ (region of light), or the world of Intellects: -which angel is styled _Parvardigar_ or _Parvardigar-i-Gunah_; _Dara_ -or _Dara-i-Gunah_; and in Arabic, “_Rab-un-naw”_ or “Lord of the -species;” in the same manner, all their relations, or every species, -has its peculiar regent from the _Nuristan_ or ‘region of -light.’――They regard the subsisting spirit of man, or the reasonable -human soul, as eternal and infinite. Sáid says thus: - - “No sign of man or world appeared on the tablet of existence - When the soul breathed forth pursuant to thy will in the school of - love.” - -It is related in some of the esteemed records of this sect, that by -_eternal souls_ are meant, the spirits of the spheres: and that human -souls are a creation, but eternal: also, that some human temperaments -are so constituted, that souls from the upper world are conferred on -them: whilst others are adapted for having attached to them souls -abstracted from matter; that such appropriation is regulated by -influence of the spheres, and is concealed from the sight of the most -profound thinkers. They also say, when this immortal spirit attains to -eminence in praise-worthy knowledge and belief, that is, pure faith -and good works, that on leaving this lower body, it succeeds in -uniting itself to the sublime uncompounded spirits: but should it not -attain to this high, emancipation-bestowing degree, it is united to -that sphere, in relation to which its acts were upright. If the -habitual language were praise-worthy and the works performed -meritorious, but it should not have attained to the rank of union with -a sphere, it being then divested of corporeal elements, remains in the -lower world with the similitude of a bodily form, and in consequence -of its praise-worthy qualities, it enjoys in appearance the view of -the nymphs, palaces, and bright rose-bowers of paradise, and becomes a -_Zamíní-Serush_, or ‘Terrestrial Angel.’ But if its words have been -reprehensible,[230] and also accompanied with evil deeds, on deserting -this material body, it obtains not another similarly constituted and -is unable to reach the _Shídastan_ or ‘the region of Light.’ Being -thus separated from the primitive source, it remains in the abode of -Elements, in the Hell of concupiscence and passion and the flames of -remorse: ultimately it becomes the prey of malady, but does not obtain -a higher mansion: the soul of such a description finally becomes an -_Ahriman_, or ‘Evil Demon.’ If in a spirit destitute of praiseworthy -conversation, the good actions preponderate,[231] but in consequence -of the attachment of the heart to matter, or through ignorance, such a -spirit attains not to the dignity of liberation, it removes from one -body to another, until by the efficacy of good words and deeds, it is -finally emancipated from body and gains a high rank. Sarábí thus says: - - “The truly free, as soon as possible, disengages himself from body: - If he cannot extricate himself from skin, let him resign his - doublet.” - -But if the spirit be prone to error, it descends successively from the -human frame to the animal body: such are the doctrines of their -distinguished men. Some however of this sect, in whose language all is -metaphorical and figurative, assert, that sometimes the spirit, -through excessive wickedness, becomes by insensible degrees connected -with plants and vegetables; and frequently, by progressive gradations, -becomes joined to mineral or metallic substances. According to this -class of believers, there is an uncompounded soul in each of the three -kingdoms of nature: and they acknowledge that every thing possesses a -ray of existence emanating from _Shíd Shídan_, or ‘Effulgence of -Light.’ One of the eminent men, agreeably to this view, has said: - - “The soul is the marrow of certainty, the body its envelope: - In the robes of spirit contemplate the form of a friend (the - Creator). - Whatever object bears the impress of existence, - Regard it as the reflexion of light, or his very self.” - -They also hold that the world bears the same affinity to the Creator, -as the solar light doth to the body of the sun; that it has existed -from all eternity and will continue to all infinity. They maintain -that, whatever exists in this world, or that of formation and -evanescence, depends on the influence of the stars; also that -astronomers and astrologers have found out some few effects of the -influence of the seven planets, but are ignorant of the natures and -influences of the slow-moving or fixed stars. The possessors of -_Fardát_ and _Fartáb_, or those who are directed by inspiration and -revelation, have laid down that every star, whether fixed or -planetary, is regent during certain periods of several thousand years: -one thousand years being assigned to each star, without the -association of any other: on the termination of which, in the -subsequent millennia, both the fixed and planetary stars are -successively associated with it――that is, in commencing the series -with a fixed star, we call the fixed star which is Lord of the Cycle, -the First King; on the termination of the millennium appropriated to -him, another fixed star becomes partner with the First King, which -partner we style First Minister: but the supremacy and dominion of the -period belong exclusively to the First King: on the termination of the -second millennium,――the period of office assigned to the First -Minister expires, and another star is associated with the First King; -and so on, until the fixed stars are all gone through: on which Saturn -becomes associated with the First King, and continues so during a -thousand years, and so with the other planets, until the period of -association with the moon arrives: then terminates the supremacy of -the fixed star, named the First King, and his authority expires. After -the First King, the star associated with him in the second millennium, -and which was called the First Minister, now attains the supremacy and -becomes Lord of the Cycle, during which cycle of sovereignty we style -him the Second King, with a thousand years appropriated to his special -rule as before stated. In the following millennium another fixed star -becomes his associate, as above mentioned, and goes through a similar -course. When the period of the moon’s association arrives, the moon -remains joined with the Second King during a millennium, on the -completion of which, that fixed star, the term of whose sovereignty -has passed away, and who commenced the cycle, under the style of First -King, is associated with the Lord of the Cycle, styled the Second -King; after which, the empire of the Second King’s star also -terminates and becomes transferred to another: thus all the fixed -stars in succession become kings, until they are all gone through, on -which the principality and supremacy come to _Shat Kaivan_, or ‘the -Lord Saturn,’ with whom in like manner the fixed stars and planets are -associated for their respective millennia,――when the dominion comes to -the _Shat Máh_, or ‘Lunar Lord,’ his period is ended as before stated, -the cycle completed, and one great circle or revolution has been -described.――On the expiration of this great period, the sovereignty -reverts to the First King; the state of the revolving world -recommences; this world of formation and evanescence is renovated; the -human beings, animals, vegetable and mineral productions which existed -during the first cycle, are restored to their former language, acts, -dispositions, species and appearance, with the same designations and -distinctions; the successive regenerations continually proceeding on -in the same manner. The prince of physicians, _Abu Alí_ (whose spirit -may God sanctify!) expresses himself to this purport: - - “_Every_ form and image, which seems at present effaced, - Is securely stored up in the treasury of time―― - When the same position of the heavens again recurs, - The Almighty reproduces each from behind the mysterious veil.” - -It is here necessary to remark, that their meaning is not, that the -identical spirits of _Abad_, _Kaiomors_, _Siáymak_ and _Húshang_ shall -be imparted to the identical material bodies long since abandoned, or -that the scattered members of the body shall be reassembled and -reunited: such sentiments, according to them, are absurd and -extravagant: their real belief is this, that forms similar to those -which have passed away, and bodies resembling the primitive ones, -their counterpart in figure, property and shape, shall appear, -speaking and acting exactly in the same manner. How could the exalted -spirits of the perfect, which are united with angels, return back? -They also maintain that men do not arise from their own species, -without father or mother: but they affirm that, as a man and woman -were left at the commencement of the past cycle, so there shall two -remain in the present cycle, for the continuance of the human race. -For although the heavens are the sires of the three natural kingdoms -or productive principles, and the elements their mother, yet this much -only has been imparted to us, that man is born of man, and is not -produced after any other fashion. - -The followers of the ancient faith call one revolution of the regent -Saturn, a day; thirty such days, one month; twelve such months, one -year; a million of such years, one _fard_;[232] a million _fard_, one -_vard_; a million _vard_, one _mard_; a million _mard_, one _jád_; -three thousand _jád_, one _vád_; and two thousand _vád_, one -_zád_.[232]――According to this mode of computation, the happiness and -splendor of the Máhábádian dynasty lasted one hundred zád of years. -They believe it impossible to ascertain the commencement of human -existence; and that it is not to be comprehended by human science: -because there is no epoch of identical persons, so that it is -absolutely impossible to form any definite ideas on the subject, which -resembles an arithmetical infinite series. Such a belief also agrees -with the philosophy and opinions of the Grecian sages. - -From the authority of esteemed works, they account _Máhábád_ the first -of the present cycle; as in reality he and his wife were the survivors -of the great period, and the bounteous Lord had bestowed on them so -immense a progeny, that from their numbers, the very clefts of the -mountains were filled. The author of the _Amíghistan_ relates, that -they were acquainted only to a trifling degree with the viands, drinks -and clothing which through the bounty of God are now met with: -besides, in that cycle there existed no organization of cities, -systems of policy, conditions of supremacy, rules of authority and -power, principles of _Nushád_ or law, nor instruction in science and -philosophy, until through the aid of celestial grace, joined to the -manifold favors and bounties of God, the uncontrolled authority of -_Máhábád_ pervaded alike the cultivated region and the wild waste; the -wide expanse of land and sea. Through divine illumination, in -conjunction with his spiritual nature, the assistance of his guiding -angel and the eyes of discernment; and also what he had seen and heard -in the past cycle, he meditated on the creation of the world: he then -clearly perceived that the nine superior divisions, and the four lower -elements, the subjects of existence, are blended and associated with -distinct essences and accidents, so as to combine together opposing -movements with contrary dispositions and natures: and that the -aggregate of this whole indispensably requires a supreme bestower of -connection, a blender and creator: also that whatever this bestower of -relation wills, and this all perfect in wisdom does, cannot be -destitute of utility and wisdom: Máhábád therefore dispatched persons -to all quarters and regions of the world, to select from land and -water all productions and medicinal plants held in esteem for their -various properties; these he planted in a proper site, so that by the -aid of the terrene and aqueous particles, the influence of atmospheric -temperature, in conjunction with the sidereal energies, their powers -of vegetation, nutritious qualities, and properties might be -ascertained. At the time of promulgating this excellent purpose, the -sovereign of the starry host entered in glory the mansion of Aries; -and the rapidly-sketching painter of destiny drew forth the faces of -the brides of the gardens (blossoms and flowers): then, through the -efficacy of command, experiment, and examination, Máhábád extracted -from the various flowers, fruits, leaves and fibres, the different -alimentary substances, medicinal compounds, viands and beverages. He -next commanded all sorts of ores to be fetched from the mines and -liquified in the furnace, so that the different metals concealed in -them became visible. Out of iron, which combines hardness and -sharpness, he formed warlike weapons for the brave; jewels, gold, -silver, rubies, sapphires, diamonds, and chrysolithes, in which he -observed smoothness and capability of polish, he assigned as -decorations for kings, military chieftains, and matrons. He also -ordered persons to descend into the deep waters and bring forth the -shells, pearls, corals, etc. People were commanded to shear the fleece -of sheep and other animals: by him also were invented the arts of -spinning, weaving, cutting up, sewing and clothing. He next organized -cities, villages, and streets; erected palaces and colonnades; -introduced trade and commerce; and divided mankind into four classes. -The first was composed of _Hírbeds_, _Mobeds_,[233] ascetics, and -learned men, selected for maintaining the faith and enforcing the -sentence of the laws: these are also called _Birman_ and -_Birmun_;[234] that is, they resemble the _Barínían_ or supreme -beings, the exalted angels: they also style them _Húristár_.[235] The -second class consists of kings and intrepid warriors, who devote -themselves to the cares of government and authority, to the promotion -of equity and the curbing of oppression; those they call _Chatramán_, -_Chatraman_, and _Chatrí_:[236] this word _Chatrí_ means a standard or -distinction; as people of high rank have a _Chatra_,[237] or umbrella, -to protect them with its shade, which they call _Sayah dar_ and _Sayah -ban_; the people repose under the shade of the individuals of this -class, who are also called _Núristár_.[238] The third class is -composed of husbandmen, cultivators, artisans, skilful men, and -mechanics; these are called _Bás_,[239] which is synonymous with -_Bisyár_ or numerous; as this class should far exceed in number all -the others. _Bás_ also means cultivation and improvement, results -which altogether depend on this order――they are also styled -_Suristár_.[240] The fourth class are destined for every kind of -employment and service; they are called _Súdín_, _Súdí_, and -_Súd_:[241] from them profit, indulgence, and ease accrue to society: -they are also called _Rúzistar_.[242] He instituted these four -classes,[243] the four elements of society, and the sources of -organization were completed; independence and want appeared; there -were produced the gradations of ruler and subject; of lord and -servant; discipline and authority; justice and knowledge; kindness and -severity; protection of the _Zindbar_ or kind treatment of innoxious -creatures; destruction of the _Tundbar_ or noxious animals; the -knowledge of God and the ceremonies of his worship. - -God also sent _Abád_ a code called the _Dasátir_,[244] in which are -formed all languages and sciences. This work consisted of several -volumes, containing a certain number for each dialect. In it was also -the language called _Asmání_, or the Celestial, not a trace of which -has remained in any of the languages spoken by the inhabitants of this -lower world. _Abád_ also assigned a language to every nation, and -settled each in a suitable place: and thus were produced the Parsi, -Hindi, Greek and such like. - -According to this sect, authentic revelation is only obtained by the -world of ecstacy or similitude, called _Mánistán_; but from the time -of _Máhábád_, all the prophets who were sent were in accordance with -his faith; not one of them being opposed to his law. After _Máhábád_, -appeared thirteen apostles who, with him, were styled the fourteen -_Máhábáds_: they were called by the common name of _Abád_, and acted -on every occasion in conformity to their ancestor and his Celestial -Code: and whatever revelation was made to them tended to corroborate -the faith of _Máhábád_.[245] After them, their sons in due succession -obtained sovereign power, after their fathers, and devoted themselves -to justice. The followers of this sect also believe that all the -prophets and kings were selected from the heads of the most -distinguished families. - -Next to this dynasty, known as the Mahabadian, comes _Abád Azád_, who -withdrew from temporal power and walked in the path of devotion and -seclusion. It is recorded, that in their time, the realm was highly -cultivated; treasures were abundant; lofty palaces, ornamented with -paintings and exciting admiration; colonnades attracting the heart; -the Mobeds celebrated, profoundly learned, worshippers of God, -undefiled, equally eminent in good words and deeds; soldiers, -well-appointed and disciplined, with corresponding trains of -attendants and officers; mountain-resembling elephants; chargers like -fragments of _Alburz_,[246] rapid in their course; swift-paced animals -for riding; numerous camels and dromedaries; well-trained cavalry and -infantry, and leaders who had experience in the world; precious -stuffs; vases of gold and silver; thrones and crowns of great price; -heart-delighting tapestries and gardens with other such objects, the -like of which exists not at present, and were not recorded as being in -existence in the treasures or reigns of the _Gilsháíán_ monarchs. - -However, on the mere abandonment of the crown by _Abád Azád_, every -thing went to ruin; so much blood was shed that the mills were turned -by streams of gore; all that had been accomplished by the inventions -and discoveries of this fortunate race was forgotten; men became like -savage and ferocious beasts, and as in former times resumed their -abodes in the mountain-clefts and gloomy caverns; those superior in -strength overpowered and oppressed the weaker. At last some of the -sages eminent for praise-worthy language and deeds, and who possessed -the volume of Máhábád, assembled and went into the presence of _Jai -Afrám_, the son of Abád, who, next his sire was the most undefiled and -intelligent of men, and became one of the great Apostles: he passed -his time in a mountain cave, far removed from intercourse with the -world, and was styled _Jai_ on account of his purity, as in the -_Abádí_ or _Azárí_ language, a holy person is called _Jai_:[247] the -assembled sages with one voice implored his justice, saying: “We know -of no remedy for preserving the world from ruin, excepting the -intercourse of thy noble nature with mankind.” They afterwards recited -to him the counsels, testamentary precepts, traditions and memorials -of the _Abádíán_ princes on the great merit of this undertaking. He -did not however assent, until a divine command had reached him, when -through the influence of revelation and the presence of the -decree-bearing angel, _Gabriel_, he arose and assumed the high -dignity, The realm once more flourished, and the institutes of _Abád_ -resumed their former vigor. The last of the fortunate monarchs of the -_Jaí_ dynasty was _Jaí Alád_, who also retired from mankind; when the -dominion had remained in this family during one _aspár_ of years. It -is written in books of high authority that _Jaí Afrám_ was called the -son of _Abád Azád_, because next to his noble ancestor no individual -possessed such great perfections: but in reality many generations -intervened between them: besides, _Jaí Afrám_ was descended from the -sons of _Abád Azád_, so that there is a wide interval between _Sháí -Gilív_ and _Jaí Abád_: in like manner between _Sháí Mahbúl_ and -_Yásán_, and between _Yásán_ and _Gilsháhí_ there must have elapsed -multiplied and numerous generations. - -Those who would understand the doctrines of this faith must know, the -process of numeration among this profoundly-thinking sect is as -follows; by tens, hundreds and thousands: one _salám_ equal to one -hundred thousand; one hundred salám, one _shamár_; one hundred -_shámar_, one _aspár_; one hundred _aspár_, one _rádah_; one hundred -_rádah_, one _arádah_; a hundred _arádah_, one _ráz_; a hundred _ráz_, -one _aráz_; and a hundred _aráz_, one _bíáraz_. - -Now that their system of computation has been explained, I shall -proceed with their history. They say that when his attendants found -not the auspicious monarch _Jaí Alád_, neither amongst his courtiers, -nor in the royal apartments, or _harem_, nor in the house of praise, -or place of prayer, the affairs of the human race fell once more into -disorder: at length the sages and holy men went and represented the -state of affairs to the praise-worthy apostle _Sháí Gilív_, son of -_Jáí Alád_, who was then engaged in the worship of the Almighty. This -prince, from his great devotion and unceasing adoration rendered to -God, was called _Sháí_ and _Sháyí_, that is a god and a -God-worshipper: his sons were therefore styled _Sháyián_. When the -sages had stated the case, the first _Sháyíán_ prince, _Sháí Gilív_, -having reflected on the cruelty practised towards the animal creation, -arose, through the influence of a celestial revelation and Divine -light, and sat in his illustrious father’s throne. After this happy -dynasty came _Sháí Mahbúl_, when the _Sháíyán_ empire had lasted one -_shamár_ of years. - -After these came the _Yásánián_, so called from _Yásán_, the son of -_Sháí Mahbúl_: this prince was exceeding wise, intelligent, holy and -celebrated; the apostle of the age: and being in every respect worthy -of supreme power, was therefore called _Yásán_, or the meritorious and -justly exalted.[248] His mighty sire having withdrawn from mankind, -retired into seclusion, and there giving himself entirely up to the -worship of God, the affairs of the human race again relapsed into -disorder. Tradition informs us, that when these auspicious prophets -and their successors beheld evil to prevail amongst mankind, they -invariably withdrew from among them――as they could not endure to -behold or hear wickedness; and sin had no admission to their breasts. -When the chain of worldly repose had been rent asunder, Yasán, in -obedience to a Divine revelation, seated himself on the throne of -sovereignty, and overthrew evil. Of this happy dynasty the last was -_Yásán Ajám_, when this admirable family had graced the throne during -ninety and nine _salám_ of years. The author of the _Amíghistán_ says: -“The years which I have mentioned are _farsáls_ of Saturn: one -revolution of the regent Saturn, which is allowed to be thirty years, -they call one day; thirty such days, one month; and twelve such -months, one year.” This is the rule observed by the _Yezdánián_, who -write down the various years of the seven planets after this manner: -such is the amount of the saturnian _farsál_. This same system of -computation is applied to the _farsáls_ of Mars, Venus, Mercury and -the moon, a day of each being the time of their respective -revolutions: they at the same time retain the use of the ordinary -lunar and solar months. - -It is also to be observed that, according to them, the year is of two -kinds; one the _farsál_, which is after this manner: when the planet -has traversed the twelve mansions of the zodiac, they call it one day; -thirty such days, one month; and twelve such months, one year; as we -have before explained under Saturn. Similar years constitute the -_farsáls_ of the other planets, which they thus enumerate; the -_farsáls_ of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the sun, Venus, Mercury, and the -moon: the months of the _farsál_ they call _farmáh_; the days of the -farmáh, _farróz_. The second kind of years is, when Saturn in the -period of thirty years traverses the twelve mansions, which they call -a saturnian _karsál_; the _karmáh_ is his remaining two years and a -half in each mansion,――Jupiter describes his period in twelve common -years; this time they call the _hormuzí karsál_; and the _hormuzí -karmáh_ is his remaining one year in each mansion: and so with regard -to the others. However, when we speak of years or months in the -accounts given of the _Gilsháíyán_ princes, solar and lunar years and -months are always meant; day implies the acknowledged day; and by -month is meant the residence of the Great Light in one of the zodiacal -mansions; and by year, his passing through the zodiac; a lunar month -is its complete revolution, and traversing all the signs, which year -and month are also called _Tímúr_.[249] - -When Yásán Asám had abandoned this elementary body and passed away -from this abode of wickedness, the state of mankind fell into utter -ruin, as his son _Gilsháh_, who was enlightened in spirit, intelligent -in nature, adorned by good deeds, feeling no wish for sovereign power, -had given himself so entirely up to the service of God, that no one -knew the retreat of this holy personage.――Men therefore, shutting up -the eyes of social intercourse, extended the arm of oppression against -each other; at once the lofty battlements and noble edifices were -levelled to the ground; the deep fosses filled up; mankind being left -destitute of a head, the bonds of society were broken; slaughter was -carried to such excess, that numerous rivers flowed with currents of -blood, streaming from the bodies of the slain: in a short time not a -trace was left of the countless treasures and the boundless stores, -the amount of which defied the computations of imagination. Matters -even came to such an extremity, that men threw off the institutes of -humanity, and were no longer capable of distinguishing the relative -values of precious stones, wares and commodities: they left not a -vestige remaining of palaces and cities; but like ferocious and savage -beasts, took up their dwelling in the mountain caverns.――Besides this, -they fought against each other, so that the multitudes of the human -race were reduced to a scanty remnant. - -On this, _Gilsháh_[250] of exalted nature, in obedience to a -revelation from heaven, and to the command of the ruler of the -universe, became the sovereign of mankind: he restored the institutes -of justice, and reassembled the members of his family, who, during his -seclusion, had totally dispersed: on this account he was styled -_Abú-l-Bashr_, or “the Father of the human race,” because with the -exception of his family, the great majority of the others having -fallen in their mutual contests, the survivors had adopted the -pursuits and habitudes of demons and of wild beasts: _Kaiomors_, or -_Gilsháh_, with his sons, then proceeded to give battle to the vile -race, and disabled their hands from inflicting cruelty on the harmless -animals: all that we find in Histories of Kaiomors, and his sons -fighting against demons, refers to this circumstance, and the systems -of faith which sanction the slaughter of animals were all invented by -this demon-like race. In short, the only true Ruler of the world -transmitted a celestial volume to Kaiomors, and also selected for the -prophetic office among his illustrious descendants, _Siyámak_, -_Húsháng_, _Tahmúras_, _Jemshíd_, _Farídún_, _Minucheher_, _Kai -Khúsró_, _Zaratúsht_, _Azár Sásán_ the first, and _Azár Sásán_ the -fifth, enjoining them to walk in conformity with the doctrines of -Máhábád and Kaiomors; so that the celestial volumes which he bestowed -on those happy princes, all their writings and records were in perfect -accord with the code of _Máhábád_: with the exception of _Zaratúsht_, -not one of this race uttered a single word against the book of Abad: -and even Zaratúsht’s words were, by the glosses of the _Yezdániáns_, -made to conform to the _Máhábádian_ code――they therefore style -Zaratúsht, “_Wakhshur-i-Simbari_,” or the parable-speaking prophet. - -The Gilsháían monarchs constitute four races; namely, the -_Peshdádían_, _Kaiánián_, _Ashkánián_, and _Sásáníán_: the last of -these kings is _Yezdejird_, the son of _Sheriar_: the empire of these -auspicious sovereigns lasted six thousand and twenty-four years and -five months.[251] During their existence, the world was arrayed in -beauty: _Kaiomors_,[252] _Siyamak_,[253] _Húshang_,[254] named the -_Péshdádián_, _Tahmúras_,[255] surnamed the Enslaver of Demons, and -_Jemshid_,[256] through celestial revelations, Divine assistance, the -instruction of Almighty God, unerring prudence, and just views, having -followed in all things what we have recorded concerning Máhábád and -his illustrious children, introduced the rules of Divine worship, the -knowledge of God, virtuous deeds, purity of conduct, modes of diet, -clothing, the rites of marriage, the observance of continence, with -all kinds of science, letters, books, professions, solemn festivals, -banquets, wind and stringed musical instruments, cities, gardens, -palaces, ornaments, arms, gradations of office, the distinctions of -the two sexes with respect to exposure and privacy, the diffusion of -equity, justice, and all that was praiseworthy. - -After these, the Gilsháiyán ruled, through divine inspiration and the -communication of the Almighty added to their intelligence, so that the -greater part of the splendor, pomp, and beauty we now behold in the -world is to be attributed to this happy race: many however of the -excellent institutions of this happy dynasty have fallen into disuse -and a few only remain. - -The following is the sum of the _Sipásián_ creed: from the -commencement of _Máhábád’s_ empire to the end of _Yezdejird_’s reign, -the great majority, nay all the individuals of this chosen race, with -the exception of _Zokah_,[257] were models of equity, characterized by -justice and piety, perfect in words and deeds. In this holy family, -some were prophets, all were saints, righteous and God-fearing -persons, with realms and armies maintained in the highest order. They -also acknowledge the apostles and princes prior to _Gilsháh_, from -_Máhábád_ to _Yásán Ajám_, as so eminently pious, that in no degree -whatever did wickedness enter into their conversation or actions: nor -did they at any time deviate from the _Paymán-i-Farhang_, or -“Excellent Covenant,” which is the code of Máhábád, nor omit the -performance of any duty; they also held that the stars are exceedingly -exalted, and constitute the _Kiblah_[258] of the inhabitants of this -lower world. - -In the time of _Dáwir Háryár_ (the author of Daraí Sekander), who was -of the _Kaíánian_ race and a follower of the _Yezdanian_ faith, some -one said: “The prophets and faith are higher in dignity than the sun.” -_Dawir_ replied: “Where are now the forms and bodies of that -description of men?” On which that person having stated the names of -the cities and burial places of the prophets, _Dawir_ rejoined: -“During their whole lifetime, the form of no prophet or saint ever -emitted light, even the distance of one day’s journey, and since they -have been committed to the earth, not a single ray has been shed from -their graves: and they are now so blended with the dust that not a -trace of them is left!” The person then said: “the spirits of the -prophets and saints are exceedingly resplendent.” _Dawir_ retorted: -“Behold what amount of light is diffused by the solar globe! whereas -the bodies of your saints are destitute of splendor; therefore rest -assured that his spirit is more resplendent than theirs.――Know -besides, that the sun is the heart of the heavens: if he existed not, -this world of formation and dissolution could not continue: he brings -forth the seasons and the productive energies of nature; moreover, the -prophets were not in the beginning, nor are they in existence now: but -the world endures, the seasons rejoice, and the people are gladdened: -this much however may be conceded, that the prophets and saints are -more exalted than the remainder of the human race.”――On hearing this, -that person was silenced. Lastly, it is stated in the _Akhtaristán_, -that the Sipásíán tenets were, that the stars and the heavens are the -shadows of the incorporeal effulgences; on this account they erected -the temples of the seven planets, and had talismans formed of metal or -stone, suitable to each star: all which talismans were placed in their -proper abode, under a suitable aspect: they also set apart a portion -of time for their worship and handed down the mode of serving them. -When they performed the rites to these holy statues, they burned -before them the suitable incense at the appointed season, and held -their power in high veneration. Their temples were called -_Paikaristan_, or “image-temples,” and _Shidistán_, or “the abodes of -the forms of the luminous bodies.” - - -DESCRIPTION OF THE WORSHIP RENDERED TO THE SEVEN PLANETS ACCORDING TO -THE SIPASIAN FAITH.――It is stated in the _Akhtaristán_, that the image -of the regent Saturn was cut out of black stone, in a human shape, -with an ape-like head; his body like a man’s, with a hog’s tail, and a -crown on his head; in the right hand a sieve; in the left a serpent. -His temple was also of black stone, and his officiating ministers were -negroes, Abyssinians and persons of black complexions: they wore blue -garments, and on their fingers rings of iron: they offered up storax -and such like perfumes, and generally dressed and offered up pungent -viands; they administered myrobalam, also similar gums and drugs. -Villagers and husbandmen who had left their abodes, nobles, doctors, -anchorites, mathematicians, enchanters, soothsayers and persons of -that description lived in the vicinity of this temple, where these -sciences were taught, and their maintenance allowed them: they first -paid adoration in the temple and afterwards waited on the king. All -persons ranked among the servants of the regent Saturn were presented -to the king through the medium of the chiefs and officers of this -temple, who were always selected from the greatest families in Iran. -The words _Shat_ and _Tímsar_ are appellations of honor, signifying -dignity, just as _Sri_ in Hindi, and _Hazrat_ in Arabic. - -The image of the regent _Hormuzd_ (Jupiter) was of an earthy color, in -the shape of a man, with a vulture’s[259] face: on his head a crown, -on which were the faces of a cock and a dragon; in the right hand a -turban; in the left a crystal ewer. The ministers of this temple were -of a terrene hue, dressed in yellow and white; they wore rings of -silver and signets of cornelian; the incense consisted of -laurel-berries and such like; the viands prepared by them were sweet. -Learned men, judges, imans, eminent vizirs, distinguished men, nobles, -magistrates and scribes dwelt in the street attached to this temple, -where they devoted themselves to their peculiar pursuits, but -principally giving themselves up to the science of theology. - -The temple of the regent _Bahram_[260] (Mars) and his image were of -red stone: he was represented in a human form, wearing on his head a -red crown: his right hand was of the same color and hanging down; his -left, yellow and raised up: in the right was a blood-stained sword, -and an iron verge in the left. The ministers of this temple were -dressed in red garments; his attendants were Turks with rings of -copper on their hands; the fumigations made before him consisted of -sandaracha and such like; the viands used here were bitter. Princes, -champions, soldiers, military men, and Turks dwelt in his street. -Persons of this description, through the agency of the directors of -the temple, were admitted to the king’s presence. The bestowers of -charity dwelt in the vicinity of this temple; capital punishments were -here inflicted, and the prison for criminals was also in that street. - -The image of the world-enlightening solar regent was the largest of -the idols; his dome was built of gold-plated bricks: the interior -inlaid with rubies, diamonds, cornelian and such like. The image of -the Great Light was formed of burnished gold, in the likeness of a man -with two heads, on each of which was a precious crown set with rubies; -and in each diadem were seven _sárún_ or peaks. He was seated on a -powerful steed; his face resembling that of a man, but he had a -dragon’s tail; in the right hand a rod of gold, a collar of diamonds -around his neck. The ministers of this temple were dressed in yellow -robes of gold tissue, and a girdle set with rubies, diamonds, and -other solar stones: the fumigations consisted of sandal wood and such -like: they generally served up acid viands. In his quarter were the -families of kings and emperors, chiefs, men of might, nobles, -chieftains, governors, rulers of countries, and men of science: -visitors of this description were introduced to the king by the chiefs -of the temple. - -The exterior of _Nahid’s_[261] (Venus) temple was of white marble and -the interior of crystal: the form of the idol was that of a red man, -wearing a seven-peaked crown on the head: in the right hand a flask of -oil, and in the left a comb: before him was burnt saffron and such -like; his ministers were clad in white, fine robes, and wore -pearl-studded crowns, and diamond rings on their fingers. Men were not -permitted to enter this temple at night. Matrons and their daughters -performed the necessary offices and service, except on the night of -the king’s going there, as then no females approached, but men only -had access to it. Here the ministering attendants served up rich -viands. Ladies of the highest rank, practising austerities, -worshippers of God, belonging to the place or who came from a -distance, goldsmiths, painters and musicians dwelt around this temple, -through the chiefs and directors of which they were presented to the -king: but the women and ladies of rank were introduced to the queen by -the female directresses of the temple. - -The dome and image of the regent _Tir_[262] (Mercury) was of blue -stone; his body that of a fish, with a boar’s face: one arm black, the -other white; on his head a crown: he had a tail like that of a fish; -in his right hand a pen, and in the left an inkhorn. The substances -burnt in this temple were gum mastic and the like. His ministers were -clad in blue, wearing on their fingers rings of gold. At their feasts -they served up acidulous viands. Vizirs, philosophers, astrologers, -physicians, farriers, accountants, revenue-collectors, ministers, -secretaries, merchants, architects, tailors, fine writers and such -like, were stationed there, and through the agency of the directors of -the temple, had access to the king: the knowledge requisite for such -sciences and pursuits was also communicated there. - -The temple of the regent _Mah_ (the moon) was of a green stone; his -image that of a man seated on a white ox: on his head a diadem in the -front of which were three peaks: on the hands were bracelets, and a -collar around the neck. In his right hand an amulet of rubies, and in -the left a branch of sweet basil: his ministers were clad in green and -white, and wore rings of silver. The substances burnt before this -image were gum arabic and such like drugs. His attendants served up -salted viands. Spies, ambassadors, couriers, news-reporters, voyagers, -and the generality of travellers, and such like persons resided in his -street, and were presented to the king through the directors of the -temple. Besides the peculiar ministers and attendants, there were -attached to each temple several royal commissioners and officers, -engaged in the execution of the king’s orders; and in such matters as -were connected with the image in that temple. In the _Khuristar_ or -“refectory of each temple,” the board was spread the whole day with -various kinds of viands and beverages always ready. No one was -repulsed, so that whoever chose partook of them. In like manner, in -the quarter adjacent to each temple, was an hospital, where the sick -under the idol’s protection were attended by the physician of that -hospital. Thus there were also places provided for travellers, who on -their arrival in the city repaired to the quarter appropriated to the -temple to which they belonged.[263] - -It is to be observed, that although the planets are simple bodies of a -spherical form, yet the reason why the above-mentioned images have -been thus formed, is that the planetary spirits have appeared in the -world of imagination to certain prophets, saints, and holy sages under -such forms; and under which they are also connected with certain -influences; and as they have appeared under forms different from these -to other persons, their images have also been made after that fashion. - -When the great king, his nobles, retinue and the other Yezdanian went -to the temple of Saturn, they were arrayed in robes of blue and black -hues; expressed themselves with humility, moving with a slow pace, -their hands folded on the breast. In the temple of _Hormuzd_ -(Jupiter), they were dressed in his colors, as learned men and judges. -In that of _Bahram_ (Mars) they were clad in the robes peculiar to -him, and expressed themselves in an arrogant manner――but in the temple -of the Sun, in language suitable to kings and holy persons; in that of -Venus, they appeared cheerful and smiling; in the temple of Mercury -they spoke after the manner of sages and orators; and in the moon’s, -like young children and inferior officers. - -In every private house there were besides images of the stars, a -minute description of which is given in the _Akhtaristan_. They had -also, in every temple, the spherical or true forms of the several -planets. - -There was a city called the royal abode or _saráí_, facing which were -seven temples. On each day of the week, in the dress appropriated to -each planet, the king exhibited himself from an elevated _tabsar_ or -window, fronting the temple of the planet, whilst the people, in due -order and arrangement, offered up their prayers. For example, on -Sunday or _Yakshambah_, he shewed himself clad in a yellow kabá or -tunic of gold tissue, wearing a crown of the same metal, set with -rubies and diamonds, covered with many ornaments of gold from the -tabsar, the circumference of which was embossed with similar stones: -under this window, the several ranks of the military were drawn out in -due gradation, until the last line took post in the _kashúdzár_ or -ample area, in which were posted soldiers of the lowest order. When -the king issued forth, like the sun, from the orient of the tabsar, -all the people prostrated themselves in adoration, and the monarch -devoted himself to the concerns of mankind. The _Tábsár_ is a place of -observation in a lofty pavilion, which the princes of Hindustan call a -_jahrokah_ or lattice window: on the other days, the king appeared -with similar brilliancy from the other Tábsárs. In like manner the -king, on their great festivals, went in choice garments to the temples -of the several images: and on his return seated himself in the Tábsár, -facing the image of the planet, or, having gone to the _Rózistán_ or -_Dádistán_, devoted himself to the affairs of state. This Rozistan was -a place which had no tábsár, where the king seated himself on the -throne, his ministers standing around in due gradation.――The -_Dádistán_ was the hall of justice, where, when the king was seated, -no one was prevented from having access to him: so that the king first -came to the Tábsár, then to the rózistán, and lastly to the Dádistán. -Also on whatever day a planet moved out of one celestial house to -another, and on all great festival days, the king went to the temple -appropriate to the occasion. Each of the planetary forms had also its -peculiar Tábsár, in the same manner as we have before stated -concerning the royal Tábsár; and on a happy day, or festival, they -brought the image to its Tábsár, The king went first and offered up -prayer, standing in the Tábsár of the image, the nobles placed around -according to their gradations, whilst the people were assembled in -great multitudes in the _Kashúdzár_, offering up prayers to the -planet. - -According to what is stated in the _Tímsár Dasátir_,[264] that is, in -the “Venerable Desátir,” the Almighty Creator has so formed the -celestial bodies, that from their motions there result certain effects -in this lower world, and, without doubt, all events here depend on the -movements of these elevated bodies; so that every star has relation to -some event, and every mansion possesses its peculiar nature: nay, -every degree of each sign is endued with a distinct influence: -therefore the prophets of the Lord, in conformity to his orders, and -by great experience, have ascertained the properties inherent in the -degrees of each celestial mansion, and the influences of the stars. It -is certain that whenever the agent does not agree with the passive, -the result of the affair will not be fortunate; consequently, when the -prophets and sages desired that the agency of the planet should be -manifested advantageously in the world, they carefully noted the -moment of the star’s entering the degree most suitable to the desired -event: and also to have at a distance from that point, whatever stars -were unfavorable to the issue. When all had been thus arranged, -whatever was connected with the productive cause was then completed: -they then bring together whatever is connected with causation in the -lower world: thus all the viands, perfumes, colors, forms, and all -things relating to the star, being associated, they enter on the -undertaking with firm faith and sure reliance: and whereas the spirits -possess complete influence over the events which occur in the lower -world, when therefore the celestial, terrestrial, corporeal and -spiritual causes are all united, the business is then accomplished. -But whosoever desires to be master of these powers, must be well -skilled in metaphysics; in the secrets of nature; and having his mind -well stored with the knowledge of the planetary influences, and -rendered intelligent by much experience. As the union of such -qualifications is rarely or never found, the truth of this science is -consequently hidden from men. The _Abadián_ moreover say, that the -prophets of the early faith, or the kings of _Farsistán_ and the -_Yezdánián_, held the stars to be the _Kiblah_ of prayer, and always -paid them adoration, especially when a star was in its own house or in -its ascendant, free from evil aspects; they then collected whatever -bore relation to that planet, and engaged in worship, seating -themselves in a suitable place, and suffering no one to come near -them: they practised austerities; and on the completion of their -undertaking, exhibited kindness to the animal creation. - -In the year 1061 of the Hegira (A. D. 1651) the author, then in -_Sikakul of Kalang_,[265] was attacked by a disease which no -application could alleviate. An astrologer pronounced, that “the cause -of this malady arises from the overpowering force of the regent Mars;” -on which, several distinguished Brahmins assembled on the fourth of -_Zíkâdah_ (the 9th October) the same year, and having set out the -image of Bahrám and collected the suitable perfumes, with all other -things fit for the operation, employed themselves in reading prayers -and reciting names; at last, their chief, taking up with great -reverence the image of Mars, thus entreated: “O illustrious angel and -celestial leader! moderate thy heat, and be not wrathful: but be -merciful to such a one” (pointing to me). He then plunged the image -into perfumed water; immediately on the immersion of the image, the -pain was removed. - -In front of each temple was a large fire-temple, so that there were -seven in all: namely, the _Kaiwan-ázar_, _Hormuz-ázar_, _Bahrám-ázar_, -_Hár-ázar_, _Nahíd-ázar_, _Tír-ázar_, and _Máh-ázar_, so that each -fire-temple was dedicated to one of the seven planets, and in these -they burnt the proper perfumes. They assert that, during the -flourishing empire of the early monarchs, several sacred structures, -such as those of the Kâbah and the holy temple of Mecca;[266] -Jerusalem; the burial-place of Muhammed; the asylum of prophecy, in -Medina; the place of repose of Alí,[267] the prince of the faithful in -Najf; the sepulchre of Imam Husain in Kerbela;[268] the tomb of Imam -Musa[269] in Baghdad;[270] the mausoleum of Imam Reza[271] in Sanábád -of Tús; and the sanctuary of Alí in Balkh,[272] were all in former -times idol and fire-temples. They say that Mahabad after having built -a fire temple, called _Haftsúr_ or seven ramparts, in Istakhar of -Persia,[273] erected a house to which he gave the name of _Abád_, and -which is at present called the _Kâbah_: and which the inhabitants of -that country were commanded to hold in reverence: among the images of -the _Kâbah_ was one of the moon, exceedingly beautiful, wherefore the -temple was called _Máhgáh_ (Moon’s place) which the Arabs generally -changed into Mekka. They also say that among the images and statues -left in the Kâbah by Mahabad and his renowned successors, one is the -black stone,[274] the emblem of Saturn. They also say that the prophet -of Arabia worshipped the seven planets, and he therefore left -undisturbed the black stone or Saturn’s emblem, which had remained -since the time of the Abadian dynasty; but that he broke or carried -away the other figures introduced by the Koreish, and which were not -formed according to the images of the stars. In most of the ancient -temples of Persia they had formed the symbol of Venus in the figure of -a _Mihrab_, or arch, like the altar of the mosques: consequently the -present _Mihrab_, or altar, is that identical symbol: which assertion -is also proved by the respect paid to Friday or the day of Venus. - -Ibrahim (Abraham), the friend of God, pursued the same conduct; that -is, he rejected the idols which were not of the planetary forms: and -the reverence paid by him to the black stone, according to ancient -tradition, seems to prove that point. _Isfendiar_, the son of king -_Gushtasp_[275] conformed also to this practice; nay Socrates the -Sage, in like manner, forbad the people to worship any other forms -except those of the planets, and commanded the statues of the kings to -be removed. Moreover, the holy temple of Jerusalem, or -_Kundízh-húhkt_[276] was erected by Zohak, and Faridun[277] kindled in -it the holy fire. But long before Zohak’s time, there were several -idol and fire temples in that place. In the same manner, they say, -that when Faridoon turned his attention to the overthrow of Zohak, -during his journey his brethren having hurled a rock at him, this -revered prince, who was skilled and mighty in all the extraordinary -sciences, manifested a wonderous deed: he prayed to the Almighty that -it might remain suspended in the air, so that the stone even to this -day is known as _Kúds Khalíl_. They also say that in _Medina_,[278] -the burial place of the prophet, there was formerly an image of the -moon: the temple in which it was, they called _Mahdínah_, or the “Moon -of Religion,” as religion is the moon of truth, from which the Arabs -formed _Medinah_. They in like manner relate, that in the most noble -_Najf_, where now is the shrine of Alí, the prince of the faithful, -there was formerly a fire-temple called _Farógh pírái_ (the decoration -of splendor), and also “_Nakaf_,” or _Na akaft_ (no injury), which is -at present denominated _Najf_. Also at _Karbalá_, the place where the -Imam Husain reposes, there was formerly a fire-temple called -_Mahyársur ilm_[279] and _Kar bala_ (sublime agency), at present -called _Karbela_. - -Also in Baghdad, where the Imam Musa reposes, was a fire-temple called -_Shet Piráyi_ (decoration): and in the place where rest the remains of -the great Imam _Abu Hanifah_, of Kufah, was a temple called _Húryar_ -(sun’s friend): also in Kufah, on the site of the mosque, was a -fire-temple called _Roz-Azar_ (the day of fire): and in the region of -Tús, on the site of Imam Resa’s shrine, was a fire-temple called _Azar -Khirad_ (the fire of intellect)――it was also known by many other -appellations, and owes its erection to Faridún.――Also when _Tús_, the -son of _Názar_,[280] came to visit _Azar-i-Khirad_, he laid near it -the foundation of a city which was called after his name.[281]――In -Balkh, where is now the sanctuary of the Imam, formerly stood a temple -called _Mahin Azar_ (great fire), now known under the name of -_Nóbahár_. In Ardebil,[282] the ancient _Dizh-i-Bahman_[283] (Bahman’s -fort), Kai Khosrú, on reducing the citadel, constructed there a -fire-temple called _Azari-Káus_,[284] which now serves as the burial -place of the shaikh Sufi Ud-Din, the ancestor of the Safavean -princes:[285] they also assert that there were fire-temples in several -parts of India: as in _Dwaraka_,[286] was the temple of Saturn, called -_Dizh-i-Kaivan_ (Saturn’s fort), which the Hindoos turned into -_Dwaraka_: and in Gya also was an idol temple, called _Gah-i-Kaivan_, -or “Saturn’s residence,” which was turned into Gya.[287]――In Mahtra -also was an idol temple of Saturn, the name of which was _Mahetar_, -that is the chiefs or _mahetar_ resorted thither; which word by -degrees became _Mahtra_.[288]――In like manner several places among the -Christians and other nations bore names which show them to have been -idol-temples. When the _Abadian_ come to such places, they visit them -with the accustomed reverence, as, according to them holy places are -never liable to abomination or pollution, as they still remain places -of worship and adoration: both friends and foes regarding them as a -Kiblah, and sinners, notwithstanding all their perverseness, pray in -those sacred edifices. Rai Gópí Nath[289] thus expresses himself: - - O Shaikh! behold the dignity of my idol-house; - Even when destroyed, it remains the house of God! - -There is not on record a single word repugnant to reason from the time -of Mahabad to that of Yasan Ajam; and if they have recourse to -allegory, they then express its figurative nature. From these princes -to the Gilshaiyan there are many figurative expressions, all of which -they interpret. For example, they say that the tradition of Siamak -being slain by the hand of a demon implies, that in successive -battles, through ignorance of himself and God, he unwittingly -destroyed this elementary body; thus, wherever, in the language of -this sect, mention is made of a demon, they always understand a man of -that description, as has been explained in the _Paiman-i-ferhang_, or -“Excellent Code.” They also maintain that, in some passages, the -rendering the demons obedient, and slaying them, is a figurative mode -of expressing a victory gained over the pleasures of sense, and the -extirpation of evil propensities: in like manner, whatever is related -about the appearance of angels to virtuous and holy persons, is the -revelation and vision of good spirits, whilst in a state of sleep, -transport, recovery from excess, or abstraction from the body; which -states are truly explained in this work. They say that Zohak’s two -serpents, _do-mar_, and ten fires (vices) or _deh ak_, imply -irascibility and sensuality: the devil, his carnal soul, and in some -places his disposition――the two pieces of flesh which broke out on -Zohak’s shoulders in consequence of his evil deeds, appeared to the -human race like serpents, the pain caused by which could only be -alleviated by the application of human brains. They also say that the -celebrated _Simúrgh_[290] (griffin) was a sage, who had retired from -the world and taken up his peaceful abode in the mountains: he was -therefore called by this name, and was the instructor of _Dastan_, the -son of Sám; so that Zál, through his instruction, attained the -knowledge of the occult sciences. As to the current tradition about -Kai-Káus attempting to ascend to Heaven, and his downfall, this -occurred, according to them, during his sleep, and not when he was -awake. Kai Nishín, his brother, who had retired from all intercourse -with mankind, thus interprets the adventure of Káus: “The four eagles -are the four elements; the throne, the predominating passions; the -lance, their energy and impetuosity in the desire of sensual -gratifications; the thighs of flesh, their various pursuits of anger, -passion, lust, and envy; their ascent implies that they may be subdued -by religious austerities, and by the aid of their energy be made the -means of ascending to the world on high and the supreme Heaven; their -fall, instead of reaching Heaven’s eternal mansions, intimates that -if, even for a short period, we become careless about repressing evil -propensities, and desist from the practice of mortification, the -passions will return back to their nature, or wander from the eternal -paradise, the natural abode of souls:” the hemistich, “_during one -moment I was heedless, and he was removed from me a journey of a -hundred years_,” is applicable to such a state. - -Rustam’s[291] bringing back Kai Káus to his throne from the forest -into which he had fallen, means, his bringing back intelligence into -the king’s soul, and turning him back from the desert (lit. meadow), -of natural infirmity: Kai Kaus therefore, by direction of Kai Nishin, -his younger brother, but his elder in purity of faith and good works, -remained forty days in retirement, until in the state of sleep, -through the awakening of his heart, he beheld this heavenly vision. -They also assert, whatever modern writers have declared, relative to -_Khizr_[292] and Iskander, having penetrated into the regions of -darkness, where the former discovered the fountain of life immortal, -means, that the Iskander, or the intellectual soul, through the energy -of the Khizr, or reason, discovered, whilst in the state of human -darkness, the water of life, or the knowledge of the rational -sciences, or the science which forms the proper object of -intellect――as to what they say about Iskander’s returning back -empty-handed, by that is meant, that to expect eternal duration in -this evanescent abode being altogether absurd, he consequently could -not attain that object, and therefore departed to the next world. What -they record about Khizr’s drinking of that water, means, that the -perfection of intellect exists not through the medium of body, and -that reason has no need of body, or any thing corporeal, either as -essence or attribute. - -In some passages they interpret the tradition after this manner; by -Khizr is meant the intellectual soul, or rational faculty, and by -Iskander the animal soul, or natural instinct; the Khizr of the -intellectual soul, associated with the Iskander of the animal soul, -and the host (of perceptions) arrived at the fountain-head of -understanding, and obtained immortality, whilst the Iskander of the -animal soul returned back empty-handed.[293] It must be remarked, that -this sect explain after this manner, whatever transgresses the rules -of probability, or cannot be weighed in the balance of comprehension; -in short, all that is contrary to reason. They also say purification -is of two kinds; the _amighi_ or true, and the _ashkari_ or apparent: -the first consists in not defiling the heart with any thing; in not -attaching it to the concerns of this treacherous world, emancipating -it from all ties and prejudice, maintaining no connection with any -object whatever, and washing away all bias from the soul. The -_Ashkari_, or apparent, consists in removing to a distance whatever -appears unclean; consequently this purification is effected with water -which has undergone no change of color, smell, or taste: that is, -which is free from bad color, smell, or taste; if otherwise, -rose-water and such like are more to be commended. Ablution requires a -_kur_, or a measure of lustral water; that is, according to them, the -measure for a man, is that quantity into which he can immerge his -head; for an elephant, a quantity proportioned to his bulk; and for a -gnat, a single drop of water. They reckon it meritorious to recite the -prayers and texts of the _Shat Dasátír_, relative to the unity of the -self-existent Creator, the great dignity of intelligence and souls, -with the pains of the superior and inferior bodies; after which they -repeat the benedictions of the seven planets, particularly on their -days, and offer up the appropriate incense. The worshipper after this -recites the praises of the guardian of the month, and those of the -days of the month; for example, if it be the month of -_Farvardin_,[294] the believer repeats benedictions on that angel, and -then on each of the regents of the days of that month: particularly -the regent of that day called by the same name as the month: which day -is also regarded as a festival.[295] For instance, in the month of -_Farvardin_, he utters benedictions on the angel _Farvardin_, who is -one of the cherubim on whom that month is dependent; if it be the -first day of the month, called the day of _Hormuz_ (the angel who -superintends the first day of the month), the believers address their -benedictions to _Hormuz_; and act in a similar manner on the other -months and their respective days. According to them, the names of the -months are called after the names of their lords; and the appellations -of the days are according to the names of their respective regents: -consequently, as we have said, the believer adores the lord of the -month, and on festivals, pays adoration to the angel who is the lord -of the month and the day.[296] According to the Abadian, although in a -month, the name of the month and of the day be the same, this -coincidence makes not that day dependant on the month, but on the -regent who bears the same name with him, consequently it is necessary -to celebrate a festival. In the same manner, on the other days of -every month, salutations are paid every morning to the regent of the -day: also during the _Sudbar_, or the intercalary days, they offer up -praises to their angels. They also regard the angels of the days as -the ministers to the angels of the months, all of whom are subject to -the majesty of the Great Light――in like manner the other stars -(planets) have also angels dependent on them: they also believe that -the angels dependent on each star (planet) are beyond all number: and -finally, that the angelic host belonging to the solar majesty are -reckoned the highest order. Besides, on the period at which any of the -seven planets passes from one zodiacal mansion to another, they make -an entertainment on the first day, which they regard as a festival, -and call it _Shadbar_,[297] or “replete with joy.” Every month also, -on the completion of the lunar revolution, on ascertaining its -reappearance from astronomical calculation, they make great rejoicings -on the first day: there is in like manner a great festival when any -star has completed its revolution, which day they call _Dádram_,[298] -or “banquet decking.” Thus, although there is a festival every day of -the week in some idol-temple or other, as has been before stated, -relative to the day of _Nahid_, or Friday, in the temple of this idol: -yet on the day of the Sun, or _Yakshambah_ (the first day of the -week), there was a solemn festival at which all the people assembled. -In like manner they made a feast whenever a star returned to its -mansion or was in its zenith. - -They believe it wrong to hold any faith or religious system in -abhorrence, as according to them, we may draw near to God in every -faith: also that no faith has been abolished by divine authority――they -hold that, on this account, there have been so many prophets, in order -to shew the various ways which lead to God. Those who carefully -investigate well know, that the ways which lead to heaven are many; -nay more than come within the compass of numbers. It is well -understood, that access to a great sovereign is more easily attained -through the aid of his numerous ministers; although one of the -prince’s commanders be on bad terms with his confidential advisers, or -even should all the chiefs not co-operate with each other; yet they -can promote the interest of their inferiors: therefore it is not -proper to say that we can get to the God of all existence by one road -only. But the insurmountable barrier in the road of approaching God is -the slaughter of the Zindíbar, that is, those animals which inflict no -injury on any person, and slay not other living creatures, such as the -cow, the sheep, the camel, and the horse: there is assuredly no -salvation to the author of cruelty towards such, nor can he obtain -final deliverance by austerities or devotions of any description. -Should we even behold many miraculous works performed by the slayer of -harmless animals, we are not even then to regard him as one redeemed; -the works witnessed in him are only the reward of his devotions, and -the result of his perseverance in the practice of religious -austerities in this world: and as he commits evil, he cannot be -perfect in his devout exercises, so that nothing but suffering can -await him in another generation (when born again): such an instance of -an ascetic endued with miraculous powers is likened in the Shat -Dasatir[299] to a vase externally covered with choice perfumes, but -filled internally with impurities. They also maintain that in no -system of faith is cruelty to innoxious animals sanctioned: and all -human sanction for such acts proceeds from their attending to the -apparent import of words, without having recourse to profound or -earnest consideration――for example, by putting a horse or cow to death -is meant, the removal or banishing from one’s self animal -propensities, and not the slaughtering or devouring of innoxious -creatures. They state the later historians to have recorded without -due discrimination that Rustam, the son of Dastan (who was one of the -perfect saints), used to slay such animals: whereas tradition informs -us, that the mighty champion pursued in the chase noxious animals -only: what they write about his hunting the wild ass, implies that the -elephant-bodied hero called the lion a wild ass; or “that a lion is no -more than a wild ass when compared to my force.” In the several -passages where he is recorded to have slaughtered harmless wild asses -and oppressed innoxious creatures, and where similar actions are -ascribed to some of the Gilsháíyán princes, there is only implied the -banishment of animal propensities and passions: thus the illustrious -Shaikh Farideddin ât´ár declares, - - “In the heart of each are found a hundred swine; - You must slay the hog or hind on the Zanar.”[300] - -They hold that, from the commencement to the very end, the chiefs of -the Persian Sipásíán, far from slaughtering these harmless creatures, -regarded as an incumbent duty to avoid and shun, by every precaution, -the practice of oppression or destruction towards them: nay, they -inflicted punishment on the perpetrators of such deeds. Although they -esteem the Gilsháíyán prophets, pontiffs, and princes, exceedingly -holy personages, yet in their opinion, they come not up in perfect -wisdom and works to the preceding apostles and sovereigns, who -appeared from the Yassánián to the end of the Máhábádíán race. - -They assert that some innoxious animals suffer oppression in this -generation by way of retribution: for instance, an ox or a horse, -which in times long past had, through heedlessness, wantonness, or -without necessity, destroyed a man: as these creatures understand -nothing but how to eat and drink, consequently when they obtain a new -birth, they carry burdens, which is by no means to be regarded as an -act of oppression, but as a retribution or retaliation for their -previous misconduct. They are not put to death, as they are not -naturally destructive and sanguinary: their harmless nature proves -that they cannot be reckoned among the destroyers of animal life: so -that putting them to death is the same as destroying an ignorant -harmless man: therefore their slayer, though he may not receive in -this world the merited punishment from the actual ruler or governor, -appears in the next generation under the form of a ferocious beast, -and meets his deserts. A great man says on this subject: - - “In every evil deed committed by thee, think not that it - Is passed over in Heaven or neglected in the resolutions of time; - Thy evil deeds are a debt, ever in the presence of fortune, - Which must be repaid, in whatever age she makes the demand.” - -They also hold the eternal paradise to be the Heavens; and regard the -solar majesty as lord of the empyrean; and the other stars, fixed or -planetary, as his ministers: thus a person who, through religious -mortifications and purity of life, attains righteousness in words and -deeds, is united with the sun and becomes an empyreal sovereign: but -if the proportion of his good works bear a closer affinity to any -other star, he becomes lord of the place assigned to that star: whilst -others are joined to the firmament on high: the perfect man passes on -still farther, arriving at the æthereal sphere, or the region of pure -spirits; such men attain the beatific vision of the light of lights -and the cherubinic hosts of the Supreme Lord. Should he be a prince -during whose reign no harmless animals were slaughtered in his realms; -and who, if any were guilty of these acts, inflicted punishment on the -perpetrators of the crimes, so that no such characters departed this -world without due retribution; he is esteemed a wise, beneficent, and -virtuous king: and immediately on being separated from the elements of -body, he is united with the sun: his spirit is identified with that of -the majesty of the great light and he becomes an æthereal sovereign. -Prince Siamak, the son of Kaiomors declares: “I beheld from first to -last all the Abádíán, Jyáníán, Sháíyán, and Yassáníán monarchs: some -were cherubim in the presence of the Supreme Lord; others absorbed in -the contemplation of the Light of Lights: but I found none lower than -the sphere of the sun, the vicegerent of God.” On my asking them -concerning the means of attaining these high degrees, they said: “The -great means of acquiring this dignity consist in the protection of -harmless animals, and inflicting punishment on evil doers.” - -According to this sect, labouring under insanity, suffering distress -on account of one’s children, being assailed by diseases, the -visitations of providence, these calamities are the retribution of -actions in a former state of existence. If a person should fall down -or stumble when running, even this is regarded as the retribution of -past deeds: as are also the maladies of new-born babes. But whatever -happens to a just man, which is evidently unmerited, this is not to be -looked on as retribution, but as proceeding from the oppression of the -temporal ruler, from whom, in a future generation, the Supreme Ruler -will demand an account. - -According to their tenets, the drinking of wine or strong liquors to -excess, or partaking of things which impair the understanding, is by -no means to be tolerated: which may be proved by this reflexion, that -the perfection of man is understanding, and that intoxicating -beverages reduce human nature, whilst in that state, to a level with -the brute creation. If a person drink strong liquors to excess, he is -brought before the judge to receive due castigation; and should he, -during that state, do injury to another, he is held accountable for -it, and is punished also as a malefactor. - -Among this sect it is permitted to kill those animals which oppress -others, such as lions, fowls, and hawks, which prey on living -creatures: but whatever animals, whether noxious or innoxious, suffer -violence from the noxious, duly receive it by way of retribution: when -they slay the former, or noxious animals, that is regarded as a -retribution, because in a former existence they were oppressive and -sanguinary creatures: and in this generation the Almighty has given -them over to other more sanguinary animals, that they might shed the -blood of the sanguinary bloodshedder: so that when noxious creatures -are slain, it is by way of retribution for having shed blood: the very -act of shedding their blood proves them to have been formerly shedders -of blood: it is not however allowed to put them to death until they -become hurtful: for example, a young sparrow cannot, whilst in that -state, commit an injury; but, when able to fly, it injures the insects -of the earth; and, although this happens to the insects by way of -retributive justice, yet their slayers become also deserving of being -slain, as in a former generation they have been shedders of blood. For -instance, a person has unwittingly slain another, for which crime he -has been thrown into prison; on which they summons one of the other -prisoners to behead the murderer: after which the judge commands one -of his officers to put the executioner to death, as, previous to this -act, he had before shed blood unjustly. But if a man slay a noxious -animal, he is not to be put to death, because that person taking into -consideration the noxious animal’s oppression, has inflicted -retribution on it: but if a brave champion or any other be slain in -fighting with a noxious creature; this was his merited retribution; -and it is the same if an innoxious animal be slain in fighting with a -noxious creature: for example, in a past generation the ox was a man -endued with many brutal propensities, who with violence and insolence -forced people into his service and imposed heavy burdens on them, -until he deprived some of them of life: therefore in this generation, -on account of his ruling propensities, he comes in the form of an ox, -that he may receive the retribution due to his former deeds, and in -return for his having shed blood, should be himself slain by a lion or -some such creature. But mankind are not permitted to kill the harmless -animals, and these are not shedders of blood: and if such an act -should be inadvertently perpetrated by any individuals, destructive -animals are then appointed to retaliate on them, as we have explained -under the head of the ox. - -The best mode to be adopted by merciful men for putting to death -destructive creatures, such as fowls, sparrows, and the like, is the -following: let them open a vein, so that it may die from the effusion -of blood: there are many precepts of this kind recorded in the _Jashen -Sudah_ of the _Móbed Hoshyár_: but philosophers, eminent doctors, and -durveshes who abandon the world, never commit such acts: it is however -indispensably necessary that a king, in the course of government, -should inflict on the evildoer the retaliation due to his conduct. The -Móbed _Hoshyár_ relates, in the _Sarud-i-Mastán_, that in the time of -Kaíomors and Siamak, no animal of any kind was slain, as they were all -obedient to the commands of these princes. So that one of the -_Farjúd_, or miraculous powers possessed by the Yezdanian chiefs of -Iran, from Kaíomors to Jemshíd, was their appointing a certain class -of officers to watch over the animal creation, so that they should not -attack each other. For instance, a lion was not permitted to destroy -any animal, and if he killed one in the chase, he met with due -punishment; consequently no creature was slain or destroyed, and -carnage fell into such disuse among noxious animals, that they were -all reckoned among the innoxious. However, the skins of animals which -had died a natural death were taken off, and in the beginning used as -clothing by Kaíomors and his subjects: but they were latterly -satisfied with the leaves of trees. Those who embrace the tenets of -this holy race attribute this result to the miraculous powers of these -monarchs, and some profound thinkers regard it as effected by a -_talisman_; whilst many skilled in interpretation hold it to be an -enigmatical mode of expression: thus, the animal creation submitting -to government implies, the justice of the sovereigns; their vigilance -in extirpating corruption and evil, and producing good. In short, when -in the course of succession the Gilsháíyán crown came to Húshang, he -enjoined the people to eat the superabundant eggs of ducks, domestic -fowls, and such like, but not to such a degree that, through their -partaking of such food, the race of these creatures should become -extinct. When the throne of sovereignty was adorned by the presence of -Tahmúras, he said, “It is lawful for carnivorous and noxious creatures -to eat dead bodies:” that is, if a lion find a lifeless stag, or a -sparrow a dead worm, they may partake of them. In the same manner, -when Jemshid assumed the crown, he enacted: “If men of low caste eat -the flesh of animals which die a natural death, they commit no sin.” -The reason why people do not at present eat of animals which died in -the course of nature, is, that their flesh engenders disease, as the -animal died of some distemper: otherwise there is no sin attached to -the eating of it. When Jemshid departed to the mansions of eternity, -_Deh Ak_,[301] the Arab, slew and partook of all animals -indifferently, whether destructive or harmless, so that the detestable -practice became general. When Faridún had purged the earth from the -pollution of Zohák’s tyranny, he saw that some creatures, hawks, -lions, wolves, and others of the destructive kind, gave themselves up -to the chase in violation of the original covenant: he therefore -enjoined the slaughter of these classes. After this, Jraj permitted -men of low caste, that is the mass of the people, to partake of -destructive creatures, such as domestic fowls (which prey upon worms), -also sparrows and such like, in killing which no sin is incurred: but -the holy Yezdanians never polluted their mouths with flesh, or killed -savage animals for themselves, although they slew them for others of -the same class. For example, the hawk, lion, and other rapacious -animals of prey were kept in the houses of the great, for the purpose -of inflicting punishment on other destructive animals, and not that -men should partake of them: for eating flesh is not an innate quality -in men, as whenever they slay animals for food, ferocity settles in -their nature, and that aliment introduces habits of rapacity: whereas -the true meaning of putting destructive animals to death, is the -extirpation of wickedness. The Yezdanians also have certain viands, -which people at present confound with animals and flesh: for instance, -they give the name of _barah_, “lamb,” to a dish composed of the -_zingú_, or egg-mushroom; _gaur_, or “onager” is a dish made out of -cheese: with many others of the same kind. Although they kill -destructive animals in the chase, they never eat of them; and if in -their houses they kill one destructive animal for the food of another, -such as a sparrow for a hawk, it is done by a man styled _Dazhkím_, or -executioner, who is lower than a _Milar_, called in _Hindi_, _Juharah_ -or “sweeper,” and in modern language _Hallál Khúr_, or one to whom all -food is lawful. But the dynasty preceding Gilshah, from whom the -Yezdanians derive their tenets, afforded no protection whatever to -destructive animals, as they esteemed the protection of the oppressor -most reprehensible. In the time of the Gilsháíyán princes, they -nourished hawks and such like, for the purpose of retaliating on -destructive animals; for example, they let loose the hawk on the -sparrow, which is the emblem of _Ahriman_; and when the hawk grew old, -they cut off his head and killed him for his former evil deeds. The -first race never kept any destructive creatures, as they esteemed it -criminal to afford them protection; and even their destruction never -took place in the abodes of righteous and holy persons. - -Among the Sipasíyan sect were many exemplary and pious personages, the -performers of praiseworthy discipline: with them, however, voluntary -austerity implies “religious practices” or _Saluk_, and consists not -in extreme suffering, which they hold to be an evil, and a retribution -inflicted for previous wicked deeds. According to this sect, the modes -of walking in the paths of God are manifold: such as seeking God; the -society of the wise; retirement and seclusion from the world; purity -of conduct; universal kindness; benevolence; reliance on God; -patience; endurance; contentedness; resignation; and many such like -qualities――as thus recorded in the _Sarúd-i-Mustán_ of the _Móbed -Hushyar_. The _Móbed Khodá Jáí_, in the “Cup of _Kái Khusró_,” a -commentary on the text of the poem of the venerable _Azar Kaivan_, -thus relates: “He who devotes himself to walking in the path of God, -must be well-skilled in the medical sciences, so that he may rectify -whatever predominates or exceeds in the bodily humours: in the next -place, he must banish from his mind all articles of faith, systems, -opinions, ceremonials, and be at peace with all: he is to seat himself -in a small and dark cell, and gradually diminish the quantity of his -food.” The rules for the diminution of food are thus laid down in the -_Sharistan_ of the holy doctor _Ferzanah Bahram_, the son of _Farhád_: -“From his usual food, the pious recluse is every day to subtract three -direms, until he reduces it to ten direms weight: he is to sit in -perfect solitude, and give himself up to meditation.” Many of this -sect have brought themselves to one direm weight of food: their -principal devotional practice turning on these five points: namely, -fasting, silence, waking, solitude, and meditation on God. Their modes -of invoking God are manifold, but the one most generally adopted by -them is that of the _Múk Zhúp_: now in the _Azanan_ or _Pehlevi_, -_Múk_ signifies “four,” and _Zhúp_ “a blow;” this state of meditation -is also called _Char Sang_, “the four weights,” and _Char Kúb_, “the -four blows.” The next in importance is the _siyá zhúp_, “the three -weights” or “three blows.” The sitting postures among these devotees -are numerous; but the more approved and choice are limited to -eighty-four; out of these they have selected fourteen; from the -fourteen they have taken five; and out of the five two are chosen by -way of eminence: with respect to these positions, many have been -described by the _Móbud Sarúsh_ in the _Zerdúsht Afshár_: of these -two, the choice position is the following: The devotee sits on his -hams, cross-legged, passing the outside of the right foot over the -left thigh, and that of the left foot over the right thigh; he then -passes his hands behind his back, and holds in his left hand the great -toe of the right foot, and in the right hand the great toe of the left -foot, fixing his eyes intently on the point of the nose: this position -they call _Farnishin_, “the splendid seat,” but by the Hindi Jogies it -is named the _Padma ásan_,[302] or “Lotus seat.” If he then repeat the -_Zekr-i-Mukzhub_, he either lays hold of the great toes with his -hands, or if he prefer, removes his feet off the thighs, seating -himself in the ordinary position, which is quite sufficient――then, -with closed eyes, the hands placed on the thighs, the armpits open, -the back erect, the head thrown forward, and fetching up from the -navel with all his force the word _Nist_, he raises his head up: next, -in reciting the word _Hésti_, he inclines the head towards the right -breast; on reciting the word _Magar_, he holds the head erect; after -which he utters _Yezdan_, bowing the head to the left breast, the seat -of the heart. The devotee makes no pause between the words thus -recited; nay, if possible, he utters several formularies in one -breath, gradually increasing their number. The words of the formulary -(_Nist hesti magar yezdan_, “there is no existence save God”) are thus -set forth: “Nothing exists but God;” or, “There is no God, but God;” -or, “There is no adoration except for what is adorable;” or this, “He -to whom worship is due is pure and necessarily existent;” or, “He who -is without equal, form, color, or model.” It is permitted to use this -formulary publicly, but the inward meditation is most generally -adopted by priests and holy persons; as the senses become disturbed by -exclamations and clamors, and the object of retirement is to keep them -collected. In the inward meditation, the worshipper regards three -objects as present: “God, the heart, and the spirit of his Teacher;” -whilst he revolves in his heart the purport of this formulary: “There -is nothing in existence but God.” But if he proceeds to the -suppression of breath, which is called the “knowledge of _Dam_ and -_Súmrad_,” or the science of breath and imagination, he closes not the -eyes, but directs them to the tip of the nose, as we have before -explained under the first mode of sitting: this institute has also -been recorded in the _Surud-i-Mastan_, but the present does not -include all the minute details.[303] - -It is thus recorded in the _Zerdúsht Afshár_; the worshipper having -closed the right nostril, enumerates the names of God from once to -sixteen times, and whilst counting draws his breath upwards; after -which he repeats it twenty-two times, and lets the breath escape out -of the right nostril, and whilst counting propels the breath aloft; -thus passing from the six Kháns or stages to the seventh; until from -the intensity of imagination he arrives to a state in which he thinks -that his soul and breath bound like the jet of a fountain to the crown -of the head: they enumerate the seven stages, or the seven degrees, in -this order: 1st, the position of sitting; 2d, the hips; 3d, the navel; -4th, the pine-heart; 5th, the windpipe; 6th, the space between the -eyebrows; and 7th, the crown of the head. As causing the breath to -mount to the crown of the head is a power peculiar to the most eminent -persons; so, whoever can convey his breath and soul together to that -part, becomes the viceregent of God. According to another institute, -the worshipper withdraws from all senseless pursuits, sits down in -retirement, giving up his heart to his original world on high, and -without moving the tongue, repeats in his heart Yezdan! Yezdan! or -God! God! which address to the Lord may be made in any language, as -Hindi, Arabic, etc. Another rule is, the idea of the Instructor: the -worshipper imagines him to be present and is never separated from that -thought, until he attains to such a degree, that the image of his -spiritual guide is never absent from the mind’s eye, and he then turns -to contemplate his heart: or he has a mirror before his sight, and -beholds his own form, until, from long practice, it is never more -separated from the heart, to which he then directs himself: or he sits -down to contemplate his heart, and reflects on it as being in -continual movement. In all these cases he regards the practices of the -suppression of the breath as profitable for the abstraction of -thought: an object which may also be effected without having recourse -to it. - -Another rule is, what they call _ázád áwá_, or the “free voice;” in -Hindi _Ánahid_; and in Arabic _Sáut Mutluk_, or “the absolute sound.” -Some of the followers of Mohammed relate, that it is recorded in the -traditions, that a revelation came to the venerable prophet of Arabia -resembling “the tones of a bell,” which means the “Sáut Mutluk:” which -Hafiz of Shiraz expresses thus: - - “No person knows where my beloved dwells: - This much only is known, that the sound of the bell approaches.” - -The mode of hearing it is after this manner: the devotees direct the -hearing and understanding to the brain, and whether in the gloom of -night, in the house, or in the desert, hear this voice, which they -esteem as their _Zikker_, or “address to God.” Azizi[304] thus -expresses himself: - - “I recognise that playful sportiveness, - And well know that amount of blandishment: - The sound of footsteps comes to my ear at night; - It was thyself; I recognise the hallowed voice!” - -Then having opened the eyes and looking between the eyebrows, a form -appears. Some of those who walk in the path of religious poverty among -the followers of Mohammed (on whom be benedictions!) assert that the -expression _Kab Kausain_, “I was near two bows’ length,” alludes to -this vision. Finally, if they prefer it, having closed the eyes for -some time, they reflect on the form which appeared to them on looking -between the eyebrows; after which they meditate on the heart; or -without contemplating the form, they commence by looking into the -heart; and closing both eyes and ears, give themselves up entirely to -meditation on the heart, abandoning the external for the internal: -whoever can thus contemplate obtains all that he wants; but - - “The anguish of my friend strikes at the portal of the heart; - Command them, O, Sháni! to purify the dwelling of the heart.” - -Finally the searcher after the Being who is without equal or form, -without color or pattern, whom they know and comprehend in the Parsi -under the name of “_Izad_,” in Arabic by the blessed name of -“_Allah_,” and in Hindi as “_Para Brahma Náráyaran a_,”[305] -contemplates him without the intervention of Arabic, Persian, Hindi, -or any other language, keeping the heart in his presence, until he, -being rescued from the shadows of doubt, is identified with God. The -venerable _Maulaví Jami_ says on this head: - - “Thou art but an atom, He, the great whole; but if for a few days - Thou meditate with care on the whole, thou becomest one with it.” - -They hold that reunion with the first principle, which the Sufees -interpret by evanescence and permanence, means not, according to the -distinguished Ishrakian[306] or Platonists of Persia, that the beings -of accident or creation are blended with him whose existence is -necessary, or that created beings cease to exist; but that when the -sun of the first cause manifests himself, then apparently all created -beings, like the stars in the sun’s light, are absorbed in his divine -effulgence; and if the searcher after God should continue in this -state, he will comprehend how they become shrouded through the sun’s -overpowering splendor, or like the ecstatic Sufees he will regard them -as annihilated: but the number of Sufís who attain to this state is -exceedingly small, and the individuals themselves are but little known -to fame. This volume would not be sufficient to enumerate the amount -of those lights (precepts) which direct the pilgrim on his course, but -the venerable _Azur Kaiván_ has treated at large on this head in the -_Jám-i-Kai Khusró_. - -It is, however, necessary to mention that there are four states of -vision; the first, _Núníar_,[307] or that which is seen during sleep: -by sleep is meant that state when the subtile fumes arising from the -food taken into the stomach mounting up to the brain, overpower -external perceptions at the time of repose: whatever is then beheld is -called in Farsi _Tínáb_, in Arabic _Rúyá_, and in Hindi _Svapna_.[308] -The state beyond this dignity is _Susvapna_,[309] in Arabic _Ghaib_ or -“mysterious,” and in the popular language of the Hindoos -_Sukhásváda_[310] or _Samádhi_[311] (suspending the connexion between -soul and body), which is as follows: when divine grace is communicated -from the worlds on high, and the transport arising from that grace -locks up external perceptions, whatever is beheld during that state is -called _Binab_ or “revelation:” but that state into which the senses -enter, or _Hóshwázhen_, “a trance,” which is expressed in Arabic by -_Sahú_ or “recovering from ebriety,” and in Hindi by _Jagrat_,[312] -“awaking,” and _Pratyaya_ “evidence,”[313] means that state in which -divine grace being communicated, without the senses being overpowered, -it transports the person for the time being to the world of reality: -whatever he beholds in this state is called _Bínáb_ or _Mâainah_ -“reality.” The state higher than this is the power of the soul to quit -the body and to return to it, which is called in Farsi -_Nívah-i-chaminah_, in Arabic _Melkát Khalâ-baden_, and in Hindu -_prapura paroksha_.[314] - -They affirm that the bodies occupied by some souls resemble a loose -garment, which may be put off at pleasure; so that they can ascend to -the world of light, and on their return become reunited with the -material elements. The difference between _Sahú_ and _Khalâ_ is this: -_Sahú_ means, being absorbed in meditation on the communication of -divine grace, so that, without a relaxation of the senses, the person -may, for the time being, actually abide in the invisible world: -whereas _Khalâ_ means, that the individual, whenever he pleases, -separates himself from the body and returns to it when he thinks -fitting. The spiritual Maulavi thus says: - - “Shout aloud, my friends! for one person has separated himself - from the body; - Out of a hundred thousand bodies, one person has become - identified with God.” - -According to this sect there are seven worlds: the first is absolute -existence and pure being, which they call _Arang_[315] or “divinity;” -the second is the world of intelligences, which they call _Birang_ or -“the empyreal;” the third is that of souls, called _Alrang_ or the -angelic; the fourth that of the superior bodies, or _Nirang_; the -fifth, the elementary or _Rang_; the sixth the compounds of the four -elements, or _Rang-a-Rang_: but according to the Sufís all bodies, -whether superior or inferior, are named _Málk_ or region; the seventh -is _Sarang_, which is that of man or of human beings: but in some -Parsi treatises they term these seven regions the seven true -realities: however, if the author were to describe minutely the -articles and ceremonies of this sect, their details would require so -many volumes, that contenting himself with what has been stated, he -now proceeds to describe some of their most distinguished followers of -later times. - - - [228] Here begins the translation of David Shea. - - [229] _Serúsh_ or _Serósh_, is derived from the Zend, and - signifies properly _sí-roz_, that is “thirty days, a month.” - To the adorers of the stars, Serósh is the name of an angel - who presides over the 17th day of the month; according to - their religion, he is moreover the most active of the - celestial spirits; as king of the earth, he passes every day - and every night three times through his empire; his throne - is the summit of the world; all light, all intelligence, he - purifies and fertilizes the earth, blesses and protects - mankind, strikes the evil spirits; in short, he is adored - equal to the supreme being. (_See Zend Avesta, par Anquetil - du Perron_, _I._ 2. P. _pp._ 80, 156, 228, 404, 415; _II._ - 320, 330, 223, 235, 237).――A. T. - - [230] The text given by Gladwin (_see the New Asiatic - Miscellany_, _vol. I. p._ 93), and the manuscript of Oude, - have no negative before خجسته; the sense would - therefore be: “if his words had been plausible, but the - deeds bad.” The edit. of Calcutta gives the sense as - above.――A. T. - - [231] Gladwin translates this passage as follows (_ibid._, - _p._ 94): “If a deserving soul produces good words and - deeds,” which is in accordance with the text he followed, - and with that of the edit. of Calcutta; but Shea’s - translation is justified by the manuscript of Oude, which - has: بي پسنديده اقوال فرّخی افعال.――A. T. - - [232] According to Gladwin, after باره once followed in a - series by هزار the same word is to be always understood――thus - يک هزار باره فردرا is not a thousand _fard_, but one million - _fard_. This word is not in the Burhan:――I have therefore - followed Gladwin’s authority. But in the Desátir, or “Sacred - Writings of the ancient Persian Prophets in the original - tongue,” published at Bombay in 1818, the following passage - occurs in the commentary of the Vth Sasan (English transl. - p. 36): “They call a thousand times a thousand years a - _ferd_; and a thousand _ferds_, a _werd_; and a thousand - _werds_, a _merd_; and a thousand _werds_, a _jád_; and - three thousand _jáds_, a _wád_; and two thousand _wads_, a - _zád_;” etc.――D. S. - - [233] هيربد “Hirbed” (see Thomas Hyde, _Veterum Persarum et - Parthorum et Medorum Religionis Historia, Oxon ii._ 1760, p. - 369-372) was called a priest of the fire-worship; according - to oriental authors, a priest of the ancient Persians was in - general, called formerly مغ, ‘magh,’ or موغ ‘mogh,’ that is - “excellent,” hence Magus, a Magian. The Magi are mentioned - by Herodotus, and, according to Aristotle, were more ancient - than the Egyptian priests. Clitarchus and Strabo, contemporaries, - the one of Alexander, the other of Augustus, speak of the - Magi. The latter says (lib. XV.): Εν δε τη Καππαδοκία, πολύ - ἐστι το τῶν Μάγων φῦλον οἱ καὶ Πύρεθοι καλοῦνται· “In - Kappadocia is a great multitude of Magi, called also - Pyrethi.” (See Selden, De Dis Syris syntagma, Lipsiæ, 1662, - p. 317, 318). An order superior to this class of priests was - the بد, ‘mógh bed,’ or وبد, ‘mobed,’ a ‘prefect, or judge of - the Magi,’ of the learned priests, or of the worshippers of - the sun, in a general sense, a wise man, adorer of the sun. - A third order of Persian priests was called تور, ‘dastur,’ - or ‘superintendant.’ (See also _Zend-Avesta_, translated by - Anquetil du Perron, t. II, pp. 516, 517, 553, 555.)――A. T. - - [234] ब्रह्मन् “Brahman.” - - [235] Gladwin “Mahuristar.” We read in the Commentary upon - article 145 of the Desatir, English translation, p. 27: “In - Pehlevi the Huristars are called _Athurnâns_――They are the - Mobeds and Hirbuds whose duty is to guard the faith, to - confirm the knowledge and precepts of religion, and to - establish justice.”――A. T. - - [236] क्षत्त्रः, क्षत्त्रियः, क्षत्त्री, ‘kshatra, kshatriya, kshatri,’ - a man of the military class, from क्षद् to divide, or eat, - rather from क्षेत्रं, _kshétram_, ‘field,’ which they are to - protect. This last from क्षि, _kshi_, ‘to dwell.’ - - [237] छत्रं, ‘_chhatraḿ_,’ a parasol, an umbrella, from छद - ‘chhada,’ to cover.――A. T. - - [238] “The Núristárs in Pehlevi are named _Rehtishtáran_, - and are the princes and warriors who are called to grandeur - and superiority, and command, and worldly sway.” _Comment. - upon art. 145 of the Desatir_, p. 27.――A. T. - - [239] विश, वैश्य, ‘_viś_, _vaiśya_, ‘a man of the mercantile - tribe,’ from विश, ‘viś,’ to enter.――A. T. - - [240] “The Suristars in Pehlevi are denominated _Washteryû´shán_, - and are devoted to every kind of business and employment.” - _Comment. upon the Desatir_, p. 27. - - [241] शुद्र, _śudra_, a man of the fourth or servile class, - from शुच, _such_, to purify.――A. T. - - [242] “The Ruzistars are in Pehlevi styled Hotukhshan, and - are artisans and husbandmen.”――_Comm. upon the Des._ - - [243] The names _Huristar_, _Nuristar_, _Suristar_, and - _Ruzistar_, of the four classes of the people, are to be - found in the Desatir (artic. 145, English translation, p. - 27), from which work the author of the Dabistan is likely to - have taken them, as various other information. As this - division of a nation is undoubtedly suggested by the natural - state of things, it has been attributed to more than one - ancient king, and by Ferdúsi, in his Shah-namah, to Jemshid, - under four denominations belonging to the ancient Persian - language. These are as follows: 1ᵒ ان, _Amuzian_; 2ᵒ - يساريان, _Nisarian_; 3ᵒ دی, _Nasudi_; 4ᵒ خوشی, _Ahnu - khushi_, corresponding to the learned, the warriors, the - husbandmen, and the mechanics. The first of these names, - _Amuzian_, is easily recognised in the Persian ختن, - _amokhten_ (Imp. اموز _amuz_), “to teach, to learn;” the - second _nisarian_ is the same with ساری, _nisari_, the - common Persian word for a warrior; the third, _nasudi_, is a - Pehlevi noun (see Hyde, p. 437); the fourth, _Ahnúkhúshí_, - appears composed of [اهنو, _ahnu_, “provisions, meat” (to be - traced to आह्निक, _ahnika_, “daily work, food”), and of - خوشی, _khushi_, “good, content,” or from ستن _khástan_, “to - ask.” Upon the four classes of the people see also _History - of the early kings of Persia, translated from the Persian of - Mirkhond, entitled the Rauza-us-safa”_ by David Shea, p. - 108-113.――A. T. - - [244] The text of Gladwin has انير, _destânir_, the edition - of Calcutta and the manuscript of Oude have _Dasátir_. The - single volume published under that name at Bombay (see note - page 14), if genuine at all, can be considered but as a very - small part of the great work, said to comprehend all - languages and sciences.――A. T. - - [245] This faith is also called _Fersendáj_, and the great - Ábád himself _Ferzábád_, and _Búzúgábad_, (Dasát., Engl. - Transl., p. 27, 58, 187).――A. T. - - [246] _Burz_, with the Arabic article _Al-burz_, is a - mountain in Jebal or Irak Ajemi, not far distant from, and - to the north of, the town Yezd in the province of Fars, - where, from very remote times to our days, a great number of - fire-temples existed. Alburz belongs to a fabulous region; - this name is given to several mountains, among which the - great Caucasus is distinguished from the _tirah_, or - “little,” Alburz.――A. T. - - [247] This word reminds of जिन, _jina_, or जैन, _jaina_, - from जि, _ji_, ‘to conquer’ or ‘excel,’ a generic name of - distinguished persons, belonging to the Jaina sect of - Hindus.――A. T. - - [248] This is evidently the Sanskrit word यशस्, _yaśas_, - “fame, glory, celebrity, splendor,” and यशस्वान, _yaśasvan_, - “famous, celebrated.”――A. T. - - [249] Gladwin has مور, _nimur_; the edition of Calcutta and - the manuscript of Oude have تيمور _timur_.――A. T. - - [250] Gil-shah, “Earth-King,” also “the King formed of - clay.” According to the _Mojmil-al-Tavarikh_ (see Extracts - from this work by Julius Mohl, Esq., Journ. Asiat., February - 1841, p. 146), he was so called, because he governed the - then not inhabited earth. Gil-shah is one of the names given - to the first man or King; in the _Desátir_ (pp. 70, 131) he - is called Giomert, Gilshadeng; by others Kaiomars (see also - _Rauzat-us-Safa_ of Mirkhond, translated by D. Shea, p. - 50).――A. T. - - [251] This number differs considerably from the chronology - of other Asiatics. Here follow the periods enumerated in the - _Epitome of the ancient History of Persia, extracted and - translated from the Jehan Ara_, by Sir Wil. Ouseley (p. - 71-74). - - The Peshádian ruled (the mean of 4 different data) 2531 years. - Kaiánián ―― ( ―― 4 ―― ) 704 ―― - Ashkánián ―― ( ―― 11 ―― ) 352 ―― - Sásánian ―― ( ―― 7 ―― ) 500 ―― - ―――――――――――― - TOTAL 4087 years. - ―――――――――――― - - As Yezdejird’s reign terminated 651 or 653 years of our era, - the beginning of the Peshdádíán, according to the Dabistan, - is placed 6024-651=5373 years before J. C.――A. T. - - [252] Adopting the just computed period of 4087 years - between Yezdegird and the 1st of the Péshdadíán, Kaiomars - would have begun to reign 3436 years before Christ; - according to the Shahnamah, it was 3529 years before our - era; Sir W. Jones places him 890 years B. C. (see his Works, - vol. XII, 8vo edit. p. 399). - - [253] Síyamak the son of Gilshah or Kaiomors, was killed in - a battle against the Divs. - ACCORDING ACCORDING - TO FERDUSI: TO SIR W. JONES: - [254] Húshang began to reign 3499 years B. C.; 865 years B. C. - [255] Tehmúras ―― 3469 ―― ; 835 ―― - [256] Jemshíd ―― 3429 ―― ; 800 ―― - - Jemshíd, also called Jermshár in the _Desátir_ (pp. 88, - 89), according to Ferdusi the son of Tehmúras, according to - the _Zend-Avesta_ the son of Viverghám, brother or son of - Tahmúras. He, or rather his dynasty, ruled 700 years the - Persian empire. He is believed to have been the first who - amongst the Persians regulated the solar year, the - commencement of which he fixed at the vernal equinox, about - the 5th of April (see _Zend-Avesta_, by Anquetil du Perron, - vol. II, p. 82). He is also distinguished by the epithet - _Sad-wakhshur_, which signifies “hundred prophets;” to him - is ascribed the book _Javedan Khirad_, “eternal intelligence,” - which is said to have been translated into Greek, with other - books, by order of Alexander (see _Desátir_, English transl. - pp. 79, 153, 163).――A. T. - - [257] Zohak, the son of a sister of Jemshíd, usurped the - throne of his uncle and sovereign, according to Ferdusi, - 2729 years B. C.; according to Helvicus, 2248; according to - Jackson, 1964; but only 780 years B. C., according to Sir W. - Jones who, in general, fixes the ancient Persian reigns much - lower than other chronologers. Zohak is also called - _Pivar-asp_, or _Bivar-asp_, from the circumstance of his - always keeping ten thousand Arabian horses in his stables, - for _Bivar_, says Ferdusi, from the Pehlevi, in counting - means in the Dárí tongue, ten thousand (see Rauzat-us-safá, - Translat., p. 123; and also Mojmel-al-Tavarikh). The empire - which Zokah founded is identified by some historians with - the Assyrian monarchy of Semiramis, or with a Semitic - domination in general. It lasted, according to the Orientals, - 1000 years; according to Ctesias, Diodorus Siculus, Justin - and Syncellus 13 or 1400, according to Herodotus only 520 - years.――A. T. - - [258] Kiblah signifies that part to which people direct - their face in prayer, the temple of Mecca to the devout - Muhammedans; in a general sense, it means the object of our - views or wishes.――A. T. - - [259] The text has گس, _Kerges_, a bird, feeding on - carcasses, and living one hundred years.――A. T. - - [260] Bahram is also called _Manishram_ (Desátir, Engl. - transl. p. 79). - - [261] Nahid appears also under the name of _Ferehengíram_ - (ibid., p. 90). - - [262] Tir, also _Temirám_ (ibid., p. 102).――A. T. - - [263] It was from time immemorial to our days the practice - of the Asiatics to refer the common affairs of life to the - stars, to which they attribute a constant and powerful - influence over the nether world. Thus Húmaiun the son of - Baber, emperor of India (see the History of Ferishta, - translated by general John Briggs, vol. II, p. 71) “caused - seven halls of audience to be built, in which he received - persons according to their rank. The first, called the - palace of the Moon, was set apart for ambassadors, messengers - and travellers. In the second, called the palace of _Utarid_ - (Venus), civil officers, and persons of that description, - were received; and there were five other palaces for the - remaining five planets. In each of these buildings he gave - public audience, according to the planet of the day. The - furniture and paintings of each, as also the dresses of the - household attendants, bore some symbol emblematical of the - planet. In each of these palaces he transacted business one - day in the week.”――A. T. - - [264] Gladwin has وساتير _timar Vasátir_, the manuscript of - Oude ر دسيتير _tímár dasyátir_, the edition of Calcutta ار - دساتير, _tímsár dasatir_, which is the right reading, as the - word “_timsar_” is explained in the index of obsolete or - little known terms by these words: لمهٔ تعظيم بمعنی “a word - expressing respect.”――A. T. - - [265] Cicacole, a town in the northern districts of the - Coromandel coast, anciently named Kalinga, the ancient - capital of an extensive district of the same name, lat. 18° - 21′ N., long. 83° 57′ E.――A. T. - - [266] The Muhammedans distinguish particularly two temples, - or mosques: the first, the principal object of their - veneration, is the _Masjed al Haram_, or “the Sacred - mosque,” that is to say, the temple of Mecca, where is also - the _Kâbah_, or “the Square-edifice,” built, as they say, by - Abraham and his son Ismael. The second of the temples is the - _Masjed al Nabí_, “the mosque of the Prophet,” who preached - and is buried in it.――(_Herbelot._)――A. T. - - [267] Ali, the son of _Abu Taleb_, the cousin and son in law - of Muhammed. Ali was assassinated in the mosque of Kufa, and - buried near this town, in the province of Irak, the - Babylonian, on the right bank of the Euphrates.――A. T. - - [268] Kerbela is a district of Irak, the Babylonian, or of - Chaldæa, not far from Kufa, and west of the town called - Kaser Ben Hóbeirah. It is famous on account of the death and - sepulchre of Hóssáin, the son of Ali, who was killed there, - fighting against the troops of Yezid, son of Moavia, who - disputed the khalifat with him.――A. T. - - [269] Músa was the seventh of the twelve Imams whom the - Shiites revere. He was born in the year of the Hegira 128 - (745 A. D.), and died in 183 (799 A. D.).――A. T. - - [270] Baghdad, a town in the province Irak Arabí. - - [271] The Imam Reza was the eighth Imam of the race of Alí; - he was called Alí Ben Mússa al Kadhem, before he received - the title Reza or Redha (one in whom God is pleased) from - the Khalif Almamúm, when the latter appointed him his - successor, but survived the Imam, who died A. D. 818.――A. T. - - [272] Balkh, a town in Khorasan, situated towards the head - of the river Oxus, in lat. N. 36° 28′; long. 65° 16′. - - [273] Persepolis, in Persia proper. - - [274] For the black stone, consult Dart’s Antiquities of - Westminster, vol. II, p. 12; Matthew of Westminster, p. - 430.――D. S. - - Stones, especially when distinguished by some particular - form or colour, were in the most ancient times venerated as - the only then possible monuments, consecrated to some - respected person, or to some Divinity. Thus the ancient - Arabians venerated a square stone as sacred (see Selden de - Dis Syris, p. 291, 292). It is known that the Muhammedans - bestow a particular veneration upon a black stone, which is - attached to the gate of their mosque at Mecca (Herbelot, - Bibl. orient. sub voce). It is evident that the followers of - Muhammed, who is the prophet of a comparatively recent - religion, appropriated to themselves more than one object - and place of the most ancient veneration by merely changing - its name, and attaching to it a legend in accordance to - their own belief.――A. T. - - [275] According to Ferdusi in his Shah-namah, Gushtasp - (Darius, son of Hystaspes, 519 B. C.) was induced by - Zerdusht to adopt a reformed doctrine which prescribed the - adoration of fire, and was probably a purer sort of Sabæism, - as practised by the most enlightened magi of very ancient - times. Isfendiar, Gushtasp’s son, a zealous promoter of this - religion, erected fire-temples in all parts of his empire - (see also Rauzat-us-safa, Shea’s transl., p. 285).――A. T. - - [276] The Persian text of Gladwin reads: کنکدژ “_Gangdezh._” - - [277] Faridun, the son of Abtin, restored the power of the - Péshdádían according to Ferdusi, 1729 years B. C.; according - to Sir W. Jones and other chronologers, 750 years before our - era. Faridun, or rather his dynasty, reigned 500 years; - according to the Boundehesh and the Mujmel-ul-tavárikh - during the 500 years of Feridun, twelve generations intervened - between Faridun, and Manutcheher, his grandson.――A. T. - - [278] Medina signifies a town in general, but in particular - that of Jatreb, in Arabia, in the province of Hajiaz, to - which town Muhammed fled when obliged to abandon Mecca, on - the 16th July, 622 of our era, which is the first year of - the _Hejira_, “flight.”――A. T. - - [279] The text of Gladwin reads. تازسوز علم “_Mahtársúz - ilm._” - - [280] Názar is the eighth king of the Péshdadíán, placed by - Ferdusi 1109 years B. C.; by the modern chronologers 715-708 - B. C. He had two sons, Tús and Gustaham. - - [281] The foundation of the town Tus, in Khorasan, is also - attributed to Jemshíd. - - [282] Ardebil, a town in the province called Azerbijan, - which is a part of the ancient Media. - - [283] Bahman, son of Isfendiar. - - [284] Káus, the second king of the Kaían dynasty, whose - reign began, according to Ferdusi, 955 years B. C.; he is - supposed by western historians, to be Darius, the Mede, of - the Greeks, and placed by them 600, 634-594 years B. C.――A. - T. - - [285] The Safavean dynasty began in 1499 A. D. by Shah-Ismail, - who derives his origin from Musa, already mentioned as the - seventh imam of the Muselmans. All his ancestors were - considered as pious men and some as saints. The first of - this family who gained a great reputation was Shaik Sufi - Ud-din, from whom this dynasty takes the name of Sufaviah. - His son was Sudder Ud-din. The monarchs of that time used to - visit his cell. Timur asked him what favour he could bestow - on him. The saint answered: “Set free all the prisoners whom - thou hast brought from Turkey.” The conqueror granted this - request, and the grateful tribes declared themselves the - disciples of the man to whom they owed their liberty. Their - children preserved the sacred obligation of their ancestors, - and placed the son of the pious Eremite upon the throne of - Persia. (_Malcolm’s Hist. of Persia._)――A. T. - - [286] Dwaraka, an ancient town, built by Krichna, destroyed - by a revolution of nature; actually exists a town and - celebrated temple of that name, in the province of Guzrat, - situated at the S. W. extremity of the peninsula, lat. 22° - 21′ N.; long. 69° 15′ E. - - [287] “The true name is _Gáyá_, a town in the province of - Bahar, 55 miles south from Patna, lat. 24° 49′ N.; long. 85° - 5′ E. It is one of the holy places of the Hindus, to which - pilgrimages are performed. It was made holy by the benediction - of Vichnu, who granted its sanctity to the piety of Gáyá the - Rájarchi; or according to another legend, to Gáyá, the - Asura, who was overwhelmed here by the deities, with rocks. - This place is also considered by some Hindus either as the - birthplace or as the residence of Buddha, from which - circumstance it is usually termed Buddha-Gáyá (Hamilt. E. I. - Gazetteer. Wilson’s Dict. sub voce).――A. T. - - [288] Mathura, a town in the province of Agra, situated on - the east side of the Jumna, 30 miles N. E. by N. from the - city of Agra, lat. 27° 32′; long. 77° 37′ E. This place is - much celebrated and venerated by the Hindus, as the scene of - the birth and early adventures of Krichna (Hamilt. - Gazet.).――A. T. - - [289] This is an entirely Indian name: Gópínath, “the lord - of the cowherds’ wives,” a name of Krichna.――A. T. - - [290] According to oriental Romance, the Si-murgh, or Enka, - is endowed with reason. He acts a considerable part in the - Shah-namah, as tutor to Zál, the father of Rustam. In the - Kahermán Námah, this bird in a conversation with Kaherman, - the hero, states that it has existed during many revolutions - of ages and beings prior to the creation of Adam. It is - called Si-murgh, as being equal in magnitude to thirty - birds.――A. T. - - [291] Rustam appears to be a personification of the heroic - times of the Persians, the Medes and the Scythes. He was - born under the reign of Manucheher, after the year 1299 B. - C., and died under that of Gústasp, after the year 625 - before our era; his existence comprises therefore 604 years. - He was the lord of Sejestan, and extended his domination - over Zabulistan and Kabul; but the circle of his actions - comprehends a great part of Asia between the Indus, the - Indian and the Caspian seas. - - [292] Khizar is confounded by many with the prophet Elias, - who is supposed to dwell in the Terrestrial Paradise, in the - enjoyment of immortality. According to Eastern traditions, - Khizr was the companion, vizir or general of the ancient - monarch, named _Zu-al-Kurnain_, or “the Two-horned;” a title - which was also assumed by Alexander the Great. According to - the Tárikh Muntakhab, this prophet was Abraham’s nephew, and - served as guide to Moses and the children of Israel, in - their passage of the Red sea and the desert. The same author - tells us, that Khizr lived in the time of Kai Kobad, at - which time he discovered the fountain of life. - (Herbelot).――A. T. - - [293] Ferdusi in his Shah-namah narrates that: Secander was - in search of the water of life, accompanied by Khizr. The - prophet attained his purpose, but the king lost his way in - the dark. The troops of the latter followed a mare running - after her foal, until they found themselves in a place full - of pebbles sounding beneath their feet, and heard a voice - from heaven, saying: “Take, or leave, the stones; sorrow of - the heart “awaits you in any case.” And so it happened. At - day-break, the stones picked up were found to be precious - rubies; all were grieved: the one for not having taken more, - the others for not having taken any, of them.――A. T. - - [294] Farvardin presides over the 19th day of the month, and - over the first month of the year (Zend-Avesta, by Anquetil - du Perron, II, p. 320-337). Hyde (p. 239) says: the first - month, March, in the Jeláli-year (or the new Persian era of - Jelaluddin) which first month was July in the old year, is - called _Farvardin_, and he endeavours to derive this word - from the modern Persian. Anquetil du Perron (I, 1^{re} part. p. - 493) rejects Hyde’s etymology, and says that Farvardin - signifies in Zend “the Fervers (the souls) of the law.” Hyde - himself seems to enter into this sense, in saying (p. 240): - “Iste Angelus (Farvardin) creditur præesse Animabus quæ in - Paradiso” (this angel is believed to preside over the souls - who are in Paradise).――A. T. - - [295] The Calcutta manuscript, translated by Gladwin, - differs in this passage from the printed copy of Calcutta, - 1224 of the _Hejirah_, A. D. 1809, and also from two - excellent manuscripts: the Calcutta copy has been - followed.――D. S. - - [296] The most ancient year of the Persians (Hyde, p. 188, - 189) appears to have been vague or erratic, its commencement - varying through all the different seasons, or at least soon - gave room to the vague Persian-Median civil year, to which - was joined afterwards the fixed ecclesiastic year of - Jemshed. Both these years lasted to the time of Yezdejerd, - who made some considerable changes in the Persian calendar. - This king being killed, after an interval of time, the fixed - solar year, beginning in the middle of “pisces,” was - introduced into Persia. The names of the ancient months and - days appear to have come from the Medes, with their - denomination, to the Persians; and even those invented by - Yezdejerd were of Median origin. Here follows the order of - months called _Jelali_ (Hyde, p. 180). - - I. Farvardin March. - II. Ardíbehist April. - III. Khordád May. - IV. Tir June. - V. Mardád (_Amardad_. _Anquetil du Perron_) July. - VI. Shahrívar August. - VII. Miher September. - VIII. Abán October. - IX. Azar November. - X. Dái December. - XI. Bahman January. - XII. Isfandármend February. - - The old Persian month was not divided into weeks, but every - day had its particular name from the angel who presided over - that day. Here follows the order of their names, according - to Olugh Beigh (Hyde, p. 190): - - I. Hormuzd. - II. Bahman. - III. Ardíbehist. - IV. Shahrívar. - V. Isfandármend. - VI. Khurdád. - VII. Murdád. - VIII. Dáíbáder. - IX. Azur. - X. Abán. - XI. Khur. - XII. Máh. - XIII. Tír. - XIV. Júsh or Gúsh. - XV. Dáíbamiher. - XVI. Miher. - XVII. Surúsh. - XVIII. Resh. - XIX. Farvardin. - XX. Bahrám. - XXI. Rám. - XXII. Bád. - XXIII. Dáíbadín. - XXIV. Din. - XXV. Ird, or Ard. - XXVI. Ashtád. - XXVII. Asamán. - XXVIII. Zámíád. - XXIX. Márásfand. - XXX. Anírán. - - The names of the five additional days were as follows: - - I. Ahnud-jah. - II. Ashnud-jah. - III. Isfandamaz-jah. - IV. Akhshater-jah. - V. Vahashtusht-jah. - - Room is wanted for entering into further developments of - this extensive subject.――A. T. - - [297] The text of Gladwin has نيديار which has the same - meaning.――A. T. - - [298] The text of Gladwin has اورام _Orám_. The name is - properly Uráman, a peculiar manner of chanting or reading - Pahlavi poetry, which derives its name from a village in the - dependencies of Kushgun, where its inventor lived.――D. S. - - [299] Gladwin and Shea read Wasatir, but I cannot forbear - from thinking, the right reading is dasátir; the و and the د - being easily confounded with each other. The simile above - quoted is not to be found in the Bombay edition of the - Desátír, although the same precepts are stated therein (pp. - 12, 13, 14). Here follows the passage (English transl. - Comment. p. 45) about the Desátír itself: “There are two - books of Yezdán. The name of the first is _Dógítí_, ‘two - worlds,’ and this they call the ‘Great Book,’ or in the - language of Heaven _Ferz-Desatir_, or the ‘Great Desátir,’ - which is the great volume of Yezdán. And the other book - is called Desátir, the doctrines of which Máhábád, and - the other prophets from Màhábád down to me, have revealed. - * * * * And in the heavenly tongue this is called _Derick - Desatir_, ‘the Little Desátir,’ as being the Little Book of - God.”――A. T. - - [300] Zanar is called in India the brahminical, or in - general, a religious thread; here is meant the mark of any - unbeliever.――A. T. - - [301] Zohak. - - [302] पद्मासन - - [303] These practices are evidently the same as those used - among the Hindu devotees. The chapter upon the Hindus, which - follows, will set forth the great conformity, nay, identity - of Indian religions with the tenets and customs here - ascribed to Persian sects. In the Desátir (English transl. - Comment. pp. 66, 67) is a curious account of the postures to - be taken standing, or lying, or sitting, on the ground - before any thing that burns, and reciting the _Ferz-zemiar_, - “great prayer,” to Yezdán, or another to _Shesh-kákh_, that - is to say, to the stars and to the fire which yield - light.”――A. T. - - [304] عزيزی Azizi is supposed, by Mr. Tholuck (Sufismus, - sive Theosophia Persarum Pantheistica) to be the name of the - so long unknown author of Gulshen-raz, “the rose-bower of - mystery.” Silvestre de Sacy (see Journal des Savants, - décembre 1821, p. 719, 720), without absolutely rejecting - this supposition, explains the word Azizi by “homme - vertueux” in the verse upon which Mr. Tholuck founded his - opinion. The true author of Gulshen-raz is now known to be - Mahmud Shabisterí. See the Persian text with a German - metrical translation of this poem, published in 1838 by the - baron Hammer-Purgstall.――A. T. - - [305] पर ब्रह्म नारायणः - - [306] For Ishrakian, see pages 31 and 86 ad refutationem - Alcorani.――D. S. - - [307] In Gladwin’s Persian text, it is توتيار _Tutiar_; in - the manuscripts consulted by Shea, in the edition of - Calcutta, and in the manuscript of Oude نونيار _nuniar_. - - [308] स्वप्न. - - [309] सुस्वप्न, “good sleep.” - - [310] सुखास्वाद, _sukhásváda_, “enjoyment.” - - [311] समाधि, _samádhi_, “deep and devout meditation.” - - [312] जाग्रत्, _jagrat_, “watching, being awake.”――A. T. - - [313] प्रत्यय, _pratyaya_, “certainty.”――A. T. - - [314] प्रपुरपरोक्ष, _prapura-paròksha_, “absent from the - former body.”――A. T. - - [315] The text of Gladwin has زارک “_záreng_;” the edition - of Calcutta and the manuscript of Oude ارنک _Arang_; in the - Desatir we find _Lareng_ for the name of a divinity.――A. T. - - - - -SECTION II. - -DESCRIPTION OF THE SÍPÁSIÁN SECT. - - -Among the moderns, the chief of the Abadian and _Azúrhúshangíán_ sects -was _Azar Kaiván_, whose lineage is as follows: _Azar Kaívan_, the son -of _Azar Zerdusht_, the son of _Azar Barzín_, the son of _Azar -Khurín_, the son of _Azar Ayin_, the son of _Azar Bahram_, the son of -_Azar Nosh_, the son of _Azar Mihtar_, the younger son of _Azar -Sásán_, styled the fifth _Sásán_, the elder son of _Azar Sásán_, the -fourth of that name, the younger son of _Azar Sásán_, the third of -that name, the eldest son of _Azar Sásán_, or the second _Sásán_, the -mighty son of _Azar Sásán_, or the first _Sásán_, the son of _Darab_ -the less, the son of _Darab_ the great, the son of _Bahmán_, the son -of _Isfendiar_, the son of _Gushtasp_, the son of _Lohrasp_, the son -of _Arvand_, the son of _Kai Nishin_, the son of _Kai Kobad_, the son -of _Zab_, the son of _Nauder_, the son of _Minuchehr_, the son of -_Iraj_, who was of the lineage of Feridun, the son of _Abtin_, who was -of the lineage of _Jamshid_, the son of _Tahmúras_, the son of -_Húsheng_, the son of _Siamak_, the son of _Kaiomors_, the son of -_Yásán Ajam_, of the lineage of _Yásán_, the son of _Shai Mohbul_, of -the lineage _Shai Giliv_, the son of _Jaí Alad_, of the lineage of -_Jai Afram_, the son of _Abád Azád_, of the lineage of _Mah Abád_, who -appeared with splendor in the beginning of the great cycle. The mother -of _Kaiván_ was named _Shirín_, a fortunate and illustrious dame -descended from the lineage of the just monarch Nushirvan. Through -eternal aid and almighty grace _Azar Kaiván_, from his fifth year, -devoted himself to great abstinence in food, and watching by night. -_Salím_ thus expresses himself: - - “Innate essence has no need of instruction; - How could an artist produce the image in the mirror?” - -In the progress of his admirable voluntary mortification, the quantity -of his daily food was reduced to one direm weight. On this point, the -divine sage Sunái observes: - - “If thou eat to excess, thou becomest an unwieldy elephant; - But if with moderation, thou becomest another Gabriel; - If any person should give way to excess in eating, - Rest assured that he is also vile to excess.” - -He abode in Khum during twenty-eight years, but removed in his latter -days from the land of Iran into India: he remained some time in Patna, -where, in the year of the Hegira 1027 (A. D. 1673), he took his flight -from this lower elementary abode to the sphere of the mansions on -high. Azízí observes: - - “Whoever is wise, esteems this mortal coil the obstacle to union - with God: - This life is the death of Durvishes: look on (the world of) reality - as a friend.” - -He continued eighty-five years united to the elements of body, during -which time he never desisted from the practice of austerities. On this -subject Hafiz of Shiraz observes: - - “O! my heart, if thou once become acquainted with the lustre of - austerity, - Like those who strike the smiling taper, thou canst give up thy - head―― - But thou longest after thy beloved and sparkling wine-bowl: - Abstain from such desire, for thou canst accomplish better things.” - -_Farzánah Bahrám_ relates in the _Sharistan_, that from the very -commencement of his religious career, Azar Kaiván, having resolved on -learning thoroughly the science and systems of the eminent sages of -antiquity, on this, the distinguished philosophers of Hindustan, -Greece, and Persia, having appeared to him in a vision, communicated -all kinds of knowledge. He went one day to a college, where he -answered every question that was proposed, and gave the solution of -every difficulty: he was therefore entitled _Zu-l-ulum_, or “the -Master of Sciences.” Ali Sani Amir Saiyid Ali of Hamadan observes: - - “If thou advance even one step from this abode of vain desire, - Thou mayest repose in the sanctuary of omnipotence; - And if thou perform ablution with the water of religious austerity, - Thou canst convert all the uncleanness of thy heart into purity; - This path however is only traversed by the active pilgrim, - How canst thou, the world’s idol, perform such a task?” - -It is reported that Saiyid Hasan of Shiraz, who was styled “the sage, -the embellishment of pure faith and works,” one day said thus: “On a -certain day, two followers of the Sufís came into the presence of Azar -Kaiván, and pursuing the path of opposition to the Master of Sciences, -treated him not as one possessed of perfection. Their teacher, a man -equally eminent in theoretical and practical science, who by dominion -over the external world had established the relation of spiritual -intercourse with the holy prophet, fell one night into a state of -ecstasy, and beheld in his trance the effulgent perfection of the -prophet, who said to him: ‘My son! tell thy disciples that through the -assistance of the Only Wise and the Omnipotent, who is independent of -all, Ali Kaiván is a completely perfect man, who has attained to the -different degrees of spiritual dominion, by the practice of the seven -cordial ejaculations, and varied mysterious illuminations, visions, -revelations, spiritual realities in his acts and attributes: moreover -his evanescent existence, through grace predestined from eternity, has -received the boon of divine nature; equally versed in special and -general providence; unique in the true knowledge of things from -inspection, not contented with the illumination of tradition; the most -perfect master of the seekers after truth in matters of worship, -seclusion, social intercourse, and whatever is meet and suitable to -their state in all kinds of institutes and religious austerities. He -is the true philosopher; the physician of the human race; the -discipline of religion; the institute of the devout; the interpreter -of events; the instructor of worship; the director of those who seek -God, labouring diligently in the purification of souls; co-operating -in the cleansing of hearts; the spiritual champion of the law; -fighting the good fight of faith; the principle of truth; confirmed in -the knowledge, source, and evidence of certainty; supported by divine -aid in the fundamental points and collateral inductions. Let not thy -disciples calumniate him, but esteem him a holy personage, and regard -attendance on him as pregnant with happiness: do thou also approach -his presence, and use every effort to conciliate his affection.’ The -teacher having during his ecstacy repeated this panegyric several -times, I committed the words to writing, and on the holy man’s arising -from his ecstatic trance, he summoned me and said: ‘Who in this city -is Azar Kaiván? The prophet hath praised him exceedingly, and ordered -me to go into his presence.’ I answered: ‘He has lately come hither -from the direction of Istakhar:’ on which he replied: ‘Conduct me near -him.’ I therefore accompanied him, but was ignorant of Kaiván’s -residence. When we had proceeded some time, one of Kaiván’s disciples, -by name Farhad, came near him and said: ‘The master (that is Kaiván) -invites you, and has sent me to be your guide.’ When we came into his -presence, my teacher had determined in his mind to salute him first, -but was unable to obtain the priority, as Azar Kaiván had much sooner -anticipated him in salutations in the Persian language, and afterwards -addressed him in Arabic. We were struck with astonishment. My teacher -then repeated what he had communicated to me concerning the vision, on -which Kaiván commanded him ‘not to remove the veil of this mystery.’” -The teacher, on his return, having called before him his two misguided -disciples, recounted the perfections of Kaiván, and enjoined them to -abstain from censuring the holy man. For as Sadi says: - - “Respecting the thicket, imagine it not unoccupied, - A tiger may probably be couched there.” - -Azar Kaiván mixed little with the people of the world; he shunned with -horror all public admirers; and seldom gave audience to any but his -disciples and the searchers after truth; never exposing himself to the -public gaze. According to Shaikh Baha Uddin Muhammad of Amil, - - “If thou have not guards in front and rear to keep off the crowd, - Aversion to mixing with crowds will be a sufficient safeguard to thee.” - -Farzanah Bahrám relates in the _Sharistan_, that Kaiván expressed -himself after this manner: “The connexion of my spirit with this body, -formed of the elements, resembles the relation of the body to a loose -robe; whenever I wish I can separate myself from it, and resume it at -my desire.” The same author also thus relates of him, in the text of -the _Jam-i-Kai Khusró_, wherein are recounted some of his revelations -and spiritual communications: - - “When I passed in rapid flight from material bodies, - I drew near a pure and happy spirit; - With the eye of spirit I beheld spirits: - My spirit was moving amidst kindred spirits: - In every sphere and star I beheld a spirit; - Each sphere and star possessed its peculiar spirit; - Thus in the three kingdoms of nature I beheld a common spirit, - As their spirit was mutually communicated to each other. - I attained the knowledge of all existences. - And was associated with the great Serósh Ramah. - [316]But when I reached a great elevation, - Splendor from the Almighty gave me light; - As the radiance increased this individuality departed; - [317]Even the angelic nature and the principle of evil disappeared: - God only existed, there was no sign of me - (or of my individual existence): - [318]I no longer retained intellect or recollection of spirit: - [319]I discovered all my secrets to be but shadows; - I then returned to the angelic intelligences, - And from these intelligences I came back to the spirit; - And thus at last to bodies also summoning me. - In this manner I became powerful, wise, and sublime, - Until I descended from that high degree―― - Upon the road by which I had gone up, I returned to my body - With a hundred divine favours[320] deriving splendor from that - assemblage; - The dignity of the Supreme Lord is too exalted - For intercourse with his servants to be worthy of him. - By his effulgence intellect becomes (illumined) like the earth or sun; - He is elevated too high for his servants to hold intercourse with him: - If the spirit receives illumination from him, - It becomes beside itself, and its speech is ‘I am without intellect’―― - The world is a drop which proceeds from the ocean of his existence;[321] - What is the dropping dew? it is Himself (God); - Thou art not the dropping dew, but only a drop among the drops of it. - I know not what to say, as the result of all is deficiency: - Through love he confers bounties on his servants; - As it is proper to raise up the down-fallen - His love renders the mendicant a man of power. - The world is but a ray emanating from the sun of his face: - The just Creator addressed me in kind words, - And conferred on me the splendor of an Ized; - None but He can duly praise Himself, - As He cannot become the object of speech or hearing.” - -Kaivan was master of noble demonstrations and subtile distinctions: -one of the Moslem lawyers having asked him: “Why dost thou forbid thy -followers from eating flesh, slaying animals, and injuring living -creatures?” He thus replied: “The seekers of God are named the -peculiar people of the heart; and the heart itself, the true Kâabah: -therefore, what is an abomination in the sanctuary formed of water and -clay cannot a fortiori be suitable to the true Kâabah: that is, the -eating of animals and the slaughter of living creatures. A great man -says: - - “I have heard that a sheep once thus addressed the butcher, - At the moment he prepared to cut off her head with his sword: - ‘I now behold the retribution of every bush and bramble of which I - tasted; - What then shall that person not experience who eats my fatted loin?’” - -Kaivan also said: “If you think proper, keep your tenets secret -wherever you happen to be, concealing them even from your brethren in -the faith; as they, for the confirmation of their system, will make -you publicly known.” Azizi also says: - - “As long as thou canst, communicate not thy secret to thy friend; - For that friend has another; beware therefore of thy friend’s - friend?” - -Some one asked him: “In the schism of Abad Ansari, which faith shall I -adopt, and whose arguments must I regard as true?” Azar Kaiván -replied: “Remain in the same faith that, until the present time, God -doeth as seemeth good to him; and for the time to come he will do -whatever he thinks proper.” Urfi of Shiraz says,[322] - - “Thy essence is able to call into being all that is impossible, - Except to create one like thyself!” - -He once said to a holy man: “The knowledge of evanescent objects is -not properly knowledge, but bears the same relation to reality as the -mirage of the desert to water: the searcher after which obtains -nothing but an increase of thirst.” Shah Subhan says: - - “Men favoured by fortune drink the wine of true knowledge; - They do not, like fools, quaff the dregs of infidelity; - The science acquired in colleges and by human capacity - Is like water drawn out of the well by a sieve.” - -They once observed to Kaivan: “Notwithstanding the great exertions -made by his highness the sincere and faithful Akbar, and the grand -justiciary, the caliph Omar, and the possessor of the two lights, -Osman, in the way of the faith proved by miracles, and their mighty -labors in diffusing its institutes, the Shee-ites are opposed to these -great personages?” He replied: “The mass of mankind are acted upon by -time and place, in opposition to the seekers after truth. It is also -to be observed that the people of Iran have adopted the Shee-ite -faith; and as the above-mentioned great personages destroyed the -fire-temples of that nation, and overturned their ancient religion, -therefore rebellion and envy have remained in their hearts.” - -Two learned men having a dispute concerning the superiority of the -chosen Alí, “the Elect” (whose face may God honor), over the two -Shaikhs and the _Lord of the two lights_ (Osmar), (upon all of whom be -the mercy of the Almighty) having referred the dispute to Kaivan, he -observed: - - “All four are the four perfections of the prophetic edifice; - All four are the four elements of the prophets’ souls.” - -“The distinction between the two exalted parties is difficult, as two -of them claim supremacy on the celebrity (drum) of being -fathers-in-law to the Arab founder of religion; and the other two are -fitted for dignity, by being sons-in-law to the apostle of the Arabs. -But whereas all things are objects of the Almighty’s regard, the -excellent Alí, ‘the Lion of God,’ was esteemed so pre-eminent an -object of divine favor among the Moslems, that want of faith and -ignorance induced many to worship him as the true God, until this -great personage openly disclaimed such a pretension. Also during the -pontificate and caliphat of _Sadik_, ‘the faithful witness,’ the -powerful _Abubeker_, ‘the separator,’ the grand _Omar_, and that of -_Zu-l-Narain_, ‘the Lord of the two Lights,’ error misled many to such -a degree, that they denied their authority, until these legitimate -directors asserted their claims to that dignity.”[323] - -He returned an answer of a similar description in a dispute between a -Jew, a Christian, and a Muselman, who were arguing about the -superiority of their respective prophets; some acknowledging Jesus as -God, the others as the Son of God. One day as a Christian and Muselman -were disputing with each other, the former allowing the death of -Jesus, and the latter believing him to be alive, Azar Kaivan said: “If -a person who knew not the direction of a road which formed his -destination, should in the course of his journey come to a dead body -lying down, and a living person seated, from which of the two ought he -to inquire his way?” As the disputants both replied, “from the living -person;” he then said to the Muselman: “Adopt thou the faith of Jesus, -as according to thy belief he is living.” He then added: “By life is -meant the life of the rational soul: in this Mohammed and Jesus are on -an equality; call your prophets the ‘eternal living:’ for life means -not the perpetuity of this body fashioned out of the elements, which -cannot accompany us beyond a hundred or a hundred and twenty natural -stages (years).” Azizi says: - - “If the domestic fowl should fly along with the fowls of the air, - It could not proceed in flight beyond the summit of the wall.” - -A hermit once came into _Zu-l-Ulum_’s[324] presence; he pronounced a -panegyric on the opposition to sensual passions exhibited by pious -Moslem believers: and then added: “There is no limit to the opposition -to these passions: even the unbeliever through the practice of -austerities finally becomes a Moslem.” He also added: “An exemplary -unbeliever had become able to work miracles: a Shaikh went to him one -day and asked: ‘By what route hast thou attained to this dignity?’ He -replied, ‘By opposing the suggestions of the passions.’ On which the -Shaikh answered: ‘Now turn to Islamism, as thy soul has admitted -infidelity.’ On hearing which the unbeliever became a follower of -Islamism.” Kaivan observed: “The Shaikh must have been an infidel, as -his soul was still seeking after Islamism, or the true religion.” Urfi -says: - - “Lay aside the recollection of (these words) belief and unbelief, - as they excite great disputes; - For according to our (supposed) bad doctrines, all persons think - aright.” - -A person once came to Zu-l-Ulum, and said: “I propose embracing the -profession of a durvesh, and breaking asunder the chains which bind me -to the world.” Kaivan replied, “It is well.” Some days after, he -returned to Kaivan, and said: “I am at present engaged in procuring -the patched tunic, cap, wallet, and other things necessary for my -profession.” Zu-l-Ulum observed: “The profession of a durvesh consists -in resigning every thing and abandoning all manner of preparations, -and not in accumulation of any kind.” - -A merchant through penury having assumed the dress of hypocrisy, -appeared in a Shaikh’s garb, and many persons devoutly regarded him as -a holy man. He one day came before Kaivan and said: “Often have -wretches plundered me on the road: it was however for a good purpose, -in order that by embracing the life of a durvesh I might attain the -great object of salvation.” Azar Kaivan replied: “Be not grieved, as -thou art now plundering mankind by way of retaliation.” - - “The society of Urfi pleases not the superior of our monastery; - Because the superior is a foe to the intelligent and Urfi to the - stupid.” - -At present some of Kaivan’s disciples, as far as the author’s -acquaintance extends, are about to be enumerated. - -_Farzanah Kharrád_, of the family of Mahbud, who had been the _khan -salar_ (royal table-decker or taster) to the equitable monarch -_Nushirvan_,[325] and put to death through the sorcery of a Jew and -the calumnies of a chamberlain, as recorded in the Shah Namah of the -king of poets, Ferdúsi, and in other histories: Kharrad joined himself -to Kaivan in the bazar of Shiraz, and practised religious austerities -for many years. Farzanah Khushi has often mentioned in conversation, -and has also frequently repeated in the _Bazm-gah-i-Durvéshán_, “the -Durvesh’s banquetting-room,” the following circumstance: “I one day -beheld _Kharrad_ and _Ardeshir_ (a descendant of _Ardeshir -Babegan_,[326] and one of Kaivan’s disciples), standing face to face -and mutually opposing each other: whenever Ardeshir wished to smite -Kharrád with a sword, he appeared like a stone, so that when the sword -came into contact with his body, it was instantly broken to -pieces.”――In the year 1029 of the Hejirah (1620 A. D.) he became -reunited to the pure uncompounded spirit. _Buzurgi_ says: - - “What is the soul? the seminal principle from the loins of destiny: - This world is the womb: the body its enveloping membrane: - The bitterness of dissolution, dame Fortune’s pangs of childbirth. - What is death? to be born again an angel of eternity.” - -_Farzanah Farshid wird_ was one of the Parsi village chieftains: his -pedigree ascended to _Farzanah Shedosh_, who was one of the fifth -_Sassan_’s[327] disciples. He also became attached to Azar Kaivan in -the same place as Kharrad, and devoted himself to the service of the -Almighty. Khushi relates as follows: “Farshid wird and Bahman used to -stand facing each other; every arrow which Bahman discharged against -Farshid wird, he used to cut in two with his sword: and whenever the -latter let fly an arrow, Bahman with activity and address threw -himself to one side and avoided it. But this is still more wonderful: -whenever Bahman shot off a musket, Farshid let fly one at the same -instant, and ball met ball, so that they both remained unhurt: -sometimes also when Farshid Wird shot off his musket, Bahman used to -move rapidly on one side.” In the year 1029 of the Hejirah (A. D. -1619) he hurried away from this abode of the elements to the skies. -The Khajah Hafiz speaking on this subject, says: - - “He never dies whose heart is quickened with love divine; - But remains for ever stamped on the records of our eternal world.” - -_Farzanah Khíradmand_ was descended from Sám, the son of Narimán: he -joined _Zu-l-Ulum_ and gave himself up to religious austerities. -Khushi thus relates: “I once beheld Khiradmand while standing face to -face to _Rustam_ (who was descended from _Bahram Gur_,[328] and was -one of Kaivan’s distinguished disciples), assume the form of a dragon, -and shower out fire from his mouth, to such a degree that a strong -palm was consumed by its violence.” - -In three months after Bahman’s death, Khiradmand was restored to his -original place. _Buzurgi_ says: - - The skilful and intelligent artist - Should have in this world two successive lives: - So that in one he might acquire experience, - Which he could carry into effect by another experiment. - -Of these illustrious personages they have recorded many miraculous and -mysterious deeds; such as, in the upper world, hiding the sun’s disk; -causing him to appear at night; making the stars visible in the -day-time: and in this lower world, walking on the surface of water; -making trees productive out of season; restoring verdure to dried-up -wood; causing trees to bow down their heads; also showing themselves -between heaven and earth in the form of lightning; and such like: and, -in the animated world, metamorphosing animals; rendering themselves -invisible to men; appearing under various shapes and forms: some of -which wonders have been recorded in the _Bazmgah-i-Durveshi Khushí_. -They relate that these great personages were to such a degree enabled -to divest themselves of corporeal elements, that they quitted the body -at pleasure: also that they had acquired from the court of Heaven the -knowledge of all sciences whether known or occult, and _consequently_ -had the power of exhibiting such wonderful works; having rendered, by -the efficacy of their austerities, elementary matter subject to -themselves. The author of these pages beheld these four holy -personages, Kharrad, Farshid wird, Bahman, and Khiradmand, in Patna, -on which occasion they bestowed their benedictions, and imparted to -him the glad tidings of the means of obtaining the great object, or -final salvation. Shaikh Saadi says: - - “It becomes the truly wise to pass every day in the exercise of - holy zeal, - And to offer up prayers for the prosperity of durveshes.” - -_Farzanah Bahram_, the son of Farhad, was descended from _Gudarz_, the -son of Hashwád. When Azar Kaivan had proceeded to Patna, in this -sage’s latter days, Farzanah Bahram came from Shiraz and devoted -himself to the practice of religious austerities. He was a man who had -attained the highest degree of knowledge in logic, natural philosophy, -the abstract sciences, and theology, which he had most attentively -studied as far as set forth and expounded by sound reasoning in the -Parsi, Pehlevi, and Arabic: in practical and theoretical science he -was unequalled; being profoundly skilled and a perfect philosopher in -all the objects of science and morality: among the Moslem doctors, he -had established the relations of external tuition with _Khajah -Jumál-Uddin Mahmúd_, one of the disciples of the _Mulla Jalál Dawani_. -Farzánah Bahrám is the polished author and compiler of the book -entitled _Sharístán-í-Dánish, wa Gulístán-í-Binish_, “the pavilion of -knowledge and the rose-garden of vision.” In the _Sharistan_, he thus -tells us: “Through the aid of Azar Kaivan, I reached the invisible, -the angelic, the empyrean worlds, and the seat of the Divinity, and -attained to union with him through revelations of the fourfold -kind――_impressive_, _operative_, _attributive_, and _essential_.” The -Mobed _Hoshyar_ relates: “I have heard Farzánah Bahrám relate as -follows: I was one day standing in the presence of Azar Kaivan, and -conceived in my heart the wish that he should tell me what occupied my -secret thoughts. The venerable personage unfolded the secret thoughts -of my heart, and afterwards said: ‘O, Farzanah! it is an easy matter -for me to know the secrets of the soul; but then what purpose does thy -tongue answer? in order that thy tongue may not be useless, I shall -for the future suffer thee to speak.’” He assumed the dress of a -merchant, but people imagined it was for the purpose of concealment, -and that he gave himself up to alchymy. In the year of the Hejirah -1034 (A. D. 1624), he ascended from this lower abode of darkness to -the pavilions of light. The sage Sunái says: - - “Wherever intellect and divine knowledge are found, - The death of body is the birth of soul.” - -The Mobed Hoshyar is the author of the _Sarúd-i-Mastán_, “the songs of -the intoxicated.” He was born at the port of Surat; he traced his -pedigree to the invincible champion Rustam, the son of Zál, and was a -man of exceeding bravery, heroism, and experience; perfect in -generosity, sagacity, the termination of disputes, right reason, and -sound experience. If his history were detailed at full length, it -would become necessary to write another Shah Namah concerning his -victory at Girdun, his defeat of Alí Yakah, and such like.[329] - -In short he entered the service of the great philosopher Azar Kaivan -and his eminent disciples, being associated with them in the doctrine -of self-knowledge; from the commencement of night to the rise of the -world-illuminating sun, he slept in the attitude of _Murdah Khasp_. -Now the terms _Muráah Khab_, _Murdap Khasp_, and _Sáónós_, are terms -applied by the Sipásían to the following mode of sleeping: the devotee -rests (having thrown his legs beneath him) on his knees, pressing to -the ground both heels as far as the great toe: and applying the -extremities of the knees to the earth, he keeps his seat on the same; -he is then to lie on his back, keeping the points of his fingers on -his head; after this, he is to look intently between the eye-brows, -and carry into practice the _Habs-i-dam_, or imprisonment of the -breath. The Durvesh Subahani, one of the great Sufees, used to say: -“Such was the sleep of the prophets.” They also say: “The prophets of -old used to sleep on their backs, with their faces directed towards -the Heavens:” which is the same as the position before described. -Hoshyar had attained to the power of suppressing the breath for one -watch (three hours). Shaikh Saadi says: - - “They who restrain the soul from sensual pleasures - Surpass in heroism both Rustam and Zál.” - -Hoshyar was not scrupulous about what he ate; never turning away his -face from whatever was set before him: he however most diligently -shunned the practice of cruelty to living creatures, and avoided -superfluities and excess of every description. Hafiz of Shiraz on this -head says: - - “Addict not thyself to cruel pursuits, and do whatever else thou - pleasest; - As in our law there is no sin except that of cruelty.” - -In the year of the Hejirah 1050 (A. D. 1640) he was delivered from the -bondage of body in the capital named _Akbar Abad_.[330] The Mobed says: - - “Truly the body is a narrow sepulchre which entombs every spirit, - When that tomb is entombed, thou beholdest a wall, that _really_ - is no wall; - When the tomb is entombed, the living spirit is freed from its - prison. - Alas! O Mobed, the sovereign of the body knows of no restriction.” - -The Mobed Hoshyar, who was conversant with the visible and invisible -worlds, master of the esoteric and exoteric doctrines, was the -interpreter of the _Jashn-i-Sadah_ (the festival of Sadah),[331] from -which work his superior talents are evident: he derived his descent -from the sage _Jamasp_.[332] In the year of the Hejirah 1036 (A. D. -1626) the author of this work met him in the delightful region of -Kashnim. He used to support himself on the extremities of his fingers, -so that his body came not into contact with the ground, in which -position he continued from midnight until dawn. On the subject of -penance Hafiz says: - - “O, my heart! couldst thou but acquire a knowledge of religious - austerity, - Thou wouldst be able to abandon women like smiling torches.” - -The Mobed _Sarósh_, the son of Kaiván, the son of Kamkar, who was -styled _Namdár_, or “the illustrious,” on account of the celebrity of -his knowledge. The Mobed carried his lineage on the father’s side to -the venerable prophet _Zardúsht_, and on his mother’s, to _Jamásp_ the -Sage. He was equally conversant with the theoretical and practical -sciences; and was master of the languages of Arabia, Persia, and -Hindustan; he had travelled over most of the habitable world; his -nights were passed in prayer; his conduct was always pure. On coming -into attendance on Kaiván, he was illuminated by the sun of his -knowledge, and during his attendance on Farzanah Bahrám, the son of -Farhád, he acquired the Arabic language. His age reached to sixty -years; in short he was a saint elect, who in the course of his life -never looked on a woman; his mouth was never polluted with animal food -of any description; he sought seclusion from the world, and limited -himself to a small quantity of food. - - “If thou didst but know the pleasure of abandoning pleasure, - Thou wouldst never more talk about the pleasures of sense.” - -He is the author of many admired literary works and compilations; such -as the _Nosh Dárú_, “sweet medicine;” the _Sagangubín_, “dog’s honey,” -and the _Zerdúsht Afshar_, “the companion of Zerdúsht,” and such like. -It was heard from an eminent doctor, named _Muhammed Mahsan_, who said -thus: “I heard from him (Kaiván) three hundred and sixty proofs -confirmatory of the existence of the Deity: but when I wished to -commit them to writing, it was no longer in my power.” People relate -all manner of miraculous stories about him; such as his creating what -was not previously in existence; revealing secret matters, and -concealing what was evident; the acceptance or fulfilment of his -prayers; his performing a long journey in a short space of time; his -knowledge of things hidden from the senses; and his giving a -description of the same; his appearing at the same time in places far -distant from each other; bringing the dead to life, and depriving the -living of vitality; his being enabled to hear and understand the -language of animals, vegetables, minerals, etc.; to produce food and -wine without any visible means; to walk on the surface of water, also -through fire and air; and such like. The author met him in Kashmir in -the year of the Hejirah 1036 (A. D. 1627). - -_Firrah Kárí_, the attendant on the venerable _Shídósh_ (an account of -whom shall be soon given) was a person, whose essence was adorned with -science and decorated by purity; the possessor of extraordinary -probity and sound understanding, said thus: “I once received some -injury from the peasantry of Achán, a district bordering on the public -and sacred place of Kashmír: speaking of this to _Yazdán Silái_, a -disciple attached to the Móbed Sarósh, I said ‘the people of Achán -have grievously afflicted me,’ and stated to him the criminal conduct -of this wicked set of men. He answered: ‘Do you wish that the Almighty -should overwhelm with floods the cultivated grounds of these -wretches?’ I replied ‘Certainly.’ It then began to rain so -exceedingly, the loftiest and strongest-built houses were overthrown; -from the overwhelming deluge ruin fell on their buildings and tilled -grounds; and the fields of these men themselves were nearly destroyed -by the waters at the very commencement.” The Maulavi Mânevi says: - - “As long as the heart of the righteous comes not to affliction, - God never brings calamity on any people.” - -The rains still continued, which Sarósh having observed, he was -exceedingly wroth with his disciple and reproved him; and that same -day the rain ceased. Firrah-Kári used to say, “Mobed Sarósh was -acquainted with the desires of my heart, and possessed power over -men’s minds.” He also related the following story concerning him: “At -the time of arriving in the caravanserai of Bálik, in the city of -Tarkhan, the men of that place wished to act wickedly towards us, and -practise oppression. I explained the nature of their conduct to the -Mobed, on which he retired into a corner. That same night there -appeared in the air men whose heads reached to the heavens, whilst -their feet touched the earth. The people of the city were seized with -consternation and desisted from oppressing us, and the merchants at -the same time bestowed freedom on those who had been captives for many -years.” The Mobed Húshyár relates: “Being in want of a few direms, I -went to Yazdán Sitái, the disciple of the Mobed Sarósh; on this he -stretched forth his hand, and taking up some broken pottery, formed -twenty heaps of it: having breathed on these a few times, they all -became gold Mohurs: these he put into my hands, and I disbursed them -in the course of my ordinary expenses.” He also relates: “Yazdán Sitái -constructed a house of such a kind that, when any one entered, he -beheld the sun; and when the holy man sat with his friends, he -appeared as a crocodile coming to the river-bank, which was about to -snatch away all present. He sometimes threw into the fire towels on -which the flames had no effect: he frequently repeated something, -stirring his lips, and so rendered himself invisible; he used -sometimes to appear in the air, and used to say: ‘I am actually at -rest, although I appear otherwise.’” _Shidosh_, the son of _Anosh_, -said: “We were once seated near him when he placed a taper in a basin -of water; there immediately appeared some peacocks turning towards the -water, plunging their heads into it, and displaying all their beauty, -whilst we remained in utter astonishment.” Shidosh also says: “I once -beheld him disporting in the midst of a blazing fire.” Nay, the writer -of these pages has seen him swallow fire. The Mobed Húshyár says: “He -once exhibited a sight, so as to make a house appear filled with -serpents and scorpions.” He used also to lay on the breast of a person -plunged in sleep, something of such a nature as to make him return an -answer to every question proposed to him. The Mobed Húshyár also -relates: “I once beheld the Hakim (the Sage) Kamran of Shiraz, in the -feast of joy and hospitality made for the reception of an Iraki -friend, light a match: on this, all the Lulees[333] then in the house -stripped themselves naked and began to dance, whilst we looked on at a -distance. The sage said: ‘This we have learnt from Yazdan Sitái: as I -give no invitation to Lulees, and no others can be prevailed on to -commit such indecency, I therefore tried the experiment on the party -of them assembled in this place.’” Many other things of a similar -nature are related concerning Yazdan Sitái. - -_Khoda Jói_ was a native of Herat, who had passed many years in the -service of exemplary and holy men; he relates: “I once saw in a vision -holy personages come around me and say: ‘Depart and seek a spiritual -guide free from prejudice.’ During many years’ search I was unable to -discover such a character; but having once seen in a dream, ‘that Azar -Kaiván of Istakhar was one of that description:’ I went near him in -company with _Farzanah Khushi_.” - -Khoda Jói excelled in the knowledge of Parsi and Arabic; he avoided -altogether animal food of every description; he could suppress his -breath during four watches (twelve hours), and was in the habit of -practising the Hubs-i-dam; he never slept at night, nor ate more than -fifty direms weight of food. He never gave utterance to a lie, and -whatever he stated had reference to exalted objects and pursuits: even -these were uttered only at the solicitation of his friends. He is the -author of the volume entitled _Jám-i-Kai Khusró_, “the cup of Kai -Khusró,” an admirable commentary on the poetic compositions of Azar -Kaiván, and also containing his visions. He arrived in the delightful -regions of Kashmir in the year of the Hejirah 1040 (A. D. 1631), where -the author met him: in that same year this distinguished personage -hastened from this abode of evanescence to the mansions of eternity. -Hafiz of Shiraz says: - - “O joyous day, when I depart from this abode of desolation; - I then seek my soul’s repose and follow the adored object:[334] - Fluttering about like a solar mote in the _atmosphere_ of that lip, - Until I attain at last to the fountain-head of the radiant sun.” - -The Mobed Khushi is the author of the _Bazm-Gah_ (or “banqueting -house”), in which treatise when describing the stations of Azar -Kaiván’s illustrious disciples and most eminent followers, who are -twelve in number; he enumerates them in this order: _Ardashír_, -_Kharad_, _Shiroíyah_, _Khiradmand_, _Farhad_, _Suhrab_, _Azádah_, -_Bizhen_, _Isfendiar_, _Farshidwird_, _Bahman_ and _Rustam_: the daily -food of each of these individuals was much below ten direms weight: -and they carried the austerities recommended by Kaiván to the utmost -limit, so that no others of his disciples attained to the same rank as -these twelve persons. Of Farhád, Farshídwird, and Bahman, some account -has been given in the preceding part of this work. - -In the _Bazm-gah_, Khushi thus states respecting himself: “In the days -of my youth, it was my anxious desire to find _a spiritual guide_. I -therefore had recourse to the eminent doctors of Iran, Turan, Room, -and Hindustan; that is, to Moslems, Hindoos, Guebers, Christians, and -Jews. They all said to me: ‘Quit thy present faith and pass over to -us:’ but my heart felt no inclination to change of religion, to -adopting another, and abandoning opinions, as they did not afford me -sufficient light in the object of my pursuit. - - “Whilst a person beholds not the water, why pull off his slippers?” - -“Such is the language of the prejudiced; although each of these -doctors praised himself as being free from its influence: I afterwards -beheld, in a vision, a mighty river from which streams and canals -issued forth, all of which after many windings returned back into the -same great river, and were confined within its two banks. I abandoned -the great water, and in order to allay my thirst, directed my steps -towards the rivulets in search of water: but as the banks of their -channels were difficult of access through slime and mud, and carrying -a bowl,[335] I could not reach the stream, and remained in great -perplexity. At length my father came up and said: ‘Entreat God to -conduct thee to the water.’ A voice then reached my ear: ‘This man has -abandoned the river, and directed his face towards the rivulets.’ On -my directing my steps towards the river, a blessed Angel said to me: -‘The great river is Azar Kaiván; the small rivulets are the doctors.’ -I then knew that the slime and mud of the banks, the bowl, and the -rivulets refer to prejudice and envy: therefore, being accompanied by -Khoda Jói, I joined myself to Azar Kaiván, and discovered the object -of my inquiries.” Hafiz of Shiraz observes: - - “Whither can we turn our face from the high-priest’s threshold? - Happiness dwells in his abode, and salvation within that portal.” - -_Farzanah Bahram_, the son of Farhád, was called Bahram the Less: the -_Arzhang Máni_ (the gallery of Máni) is the production of his genius: -he was in attendance on Zu-al-Ulum, but attained to communion with God -and to perfection, in the service of Farzanah Bahram, the son of -Farhad. In the year of the Hejirah 1048 (A. D. 1638) the compiler of -these pages met with Bahram the Less, the son of Farhad, in the -imperial city of Lahore, in perfect health, but in the same year that -sage bade adieu to this world. He was a man who found repose in God, -and avoided all intercourse with society: he was learned in all the -theoretical and practical sciences, and eminently conversant with the -languages of Arabia, Persia, Hindustan, and Europe: by him were -translated into Persian, that is, into Parsi mixed with Arabic, the -works of the Shaikh _Ishrák Shuháb ud dín Maktúl_, which treated of -the Ishrakian tenets; his time was employed in transcribing books, -from which source he was obliged to derive his scanty support. He -never slept at night; in the year of the Hejirah 1048 (A. D. 1638) the -author beheld him with Húshyár at Lahore; during the entire night, the -writer of these pages sat in his presence, and from morn until evening -Húshyár remained before him; whilst the above-mentioned Farzanah, -seated on both knees, with his face to the east, never moved: people -have witnessed in him many things of this description. They say that -he used to remain seated two or three days after this fashion, neither -eating bread nor drinking water; he never laid his back on the ground; -his food consisted of a small quantity of cow’s milk; his lips were -never polluted with any other substance, and even this he swallowed at -intervals of two or three days. - - “Be thou as a goblet, free from the contamination of body, - Be thou earth in the footsteps of the pure. - As from this earth thou mayst come to dust, - Break through the dust, and attain the human nature.” - -The Mobed Paristár, the son of Khurshíd, who was originally of -Isfashán, assumed the elements of body in Patna; the Mobed, when a -youth, was accepted by divine favour, and through the aid of the -Almighty became one of the _Yekánah Bín_, or “seers of unity.” Having -in his early years entered into the service of Azar Kaiván, he -obtained a perfect sanctity through the society of his holy master’s -disciples. He however devoted himself chiefly to the Mobed Sarósh: he -was the author of the _Taprah-i-Mobedi_, or “the Sacerdotal -Kettledrum.” In the year of the Hejirah 1049 (A. D. 1640) he came to -Kashmir, where the author of this work was admitted into his society. -From the nightfal until sunrise, the Mobed Paristár gave himself up to -the Saráíst, which in the celestial language, or the _Desatir_, they -call _Faró_, or “downward:” this rite, according to them, consists in -elevating the feet in the air, and standing on the head; which -position is called in Hindi _Kapal Asan_[336] or “head-seat.” He of a -sudden quitted the body and entered the bowers of Paradise. A Mobed -has said: - - “If thou be a wanderer upon the path of spirituality, - Fix not on the (external) robe, the motion of thy heart, - For nothingness will be the dwelling of thy body: - Although in reality thou continuest to move.” - -The Mobed Peshkár, the son of Khurshíd, was also born in Patna, and -one year younger than Perishtar (his brother). He became unrivalled -during his age, in the Hindi chaunts and poems of that sect. He was -the _servant of the leader_ Azar Kaiván and his disciples, and whilst -in the service of the Mobed Sarósh he attained the knowledge of God, -and of himself, and he became eminently divested of prejudice and -exempted from human infirmities: being totally unfettered by the bonds -or chains of any sect whatever, and studiously shunning the polemic -domains of prejudice: in short, the eulogium of one creed and the -abhorrence of another, entered not into his system. He came to Kashmir -with his elder brother, with the purpose of departing from thence to -Kathay: he was noted for the imprisonment of the breath, concerning -which the Mobed Húshíyár said: “He once suppressed his breath and -plunged into the water, where he remained immersed during two watches -(six hours), after which interval he again raised his head above the -surface.” - - HEMISTICH: “Wherever he may be, O God, guard him in safety!” - -_Shídosh_, the son of Anosh, descended from the prophet Zardusht by -his father Anósh, who was styled _Farhosh_, “the splendor of -intellect,” was one of the sincerely devoted disciples of Azar Kaiván: -_Zarbád_ was also descended from the same divine apostle Zardúsht, and -finally became a man of opulence, although at the beginning of his -career he only possessed the pangs of destitution. They both came one -day into the presence of Azar Kaiván, and lamented the hardship of -their forlorn state; on this Azar replied: “Proceed with a small stock -to the quarter of sunrise, traverse the eastern borders, and dispose -of it with speed towards the descending sun, as your condition, -through this depressed site of difficulty will be changed into the -means of affluence.” Nearly at the period of giving these -instructions, Azar Kaiván having withdrawn from this earthly -tabernacle, hastened to the resting-place of the spheres, and these -two Jupiter-like stars, the unrivalled splendor of the world, set out -as directed. At length, through the efficacy of Kaiván’s enlightened -spirit, the state of these pilgrims continued to obtain an ascendancy, -until they became possessed of great opulence. Hafiz says thus: - - “They who by a look convert clay into the philosopher’s stone, - What great matter if they bestow a single glance on me.” - -After this, _Zarbádí_ sent to Patna an ancient servant, Farrah Kari by -name, to conduct his daughter to the musk-scented pavilion of Shídósh, -the illustrious son of Anósh. After this event, Farrah Kari and -Shídósh, proceeded from Patna on a commercial adventure, and formed -the plan of setting out from Kashmir to Kashgar: they were however -obliged to remain some time in Kashmir: but on the first moment of -moving from Patna, there arose in the breast of Shídósh an anxious -wish for attaining the knowledge of himself, the investigation of his -ancient abode, ascertaining his natural light, and exploring the march -of the invisible world: as from the very first, this bright Jupiter, -through the entreaty of Kaivan (Saturn) had directed his steps to the -region of atoms and the abode of elements of the celestial and -terrestrial parents: consequently, when Kaivan had abandoned this -bodily frame, he sat down with his disciples, - - “Choose thou companions who are better than thyself, - In order that thy understanding and faith may increase.” - -He consequently devoted himself to religious exercises, listening in -the first place to the voice called in Persian _âzád ává_ “the -independent voice,” in Arabic, _saut-i-mutluk_, or “the absolute -sound;” and in Hindi, _anáhid_. When he had duly practised this rite, -he directed his eyes, opened wide between the eyebrows, which in Hindi -they call _terátuk_, until the blessed form of Kaiván was clearly -manifested: he next contemplated that form, until it actually was -never more separated from him; he at last reached the region of -intellect, and having passed through the six worlds, arrived in the -seventh, and in this state of entrancement obtained admittance to the -Almighty presence; so that, during this abstraction from self, the -annihilation (of every thing human) and the eternity (of the -spiritual) was joined to his existence. Sâdi says: - - “O youth! enter thou this very day into the path of obedience, - For to-morrow the vigor of youth comes not from the aged man.” - -One morning at the dawn of day he said thus to the author of the -Dabistan: “Yesterday in the gloom of night, directed by the light of -spirit, I departed from this external body, and arrived at the -mysterious illumination ever replete with effulgence: the chamberlain -of truth removed from before me the curtains, so that on quitting this -mortal nature and leaving the visible world, I traversed the angelic -sphere. The supreme independently-existing light of lights became -revealed in all the impressive, operative, attributive, and essential -radiance of glory: this state of imaginary being disappeared, actual -existence was clearly witnessed.” Hafiz says: - - “The perfect beauty of my beloved is not concealed by an interposing - veil; - O Hafiz, thou art the curtain of the road: remove away.” - -Shidósh, though far removed from receiving pleasure by dainty food, -still appeared always in magnificent dresses: his audience always -diffused the fragrance of perfume; he even clad in handsome dresses -his head domestic servants, and other dependents, nay his very porter -and doorkeeper. He used to say: “My state proceeds from the splendor -of Azar Kaiván’s aid: to feel contempt for such a capital would be -highly improper; and not to make use of it would be an abomination -before my benefactor; for otherwise, I derive no pleasure from fine -raiment.” As to his abstinence in point of food, and his shunning of -female society, what has been mentioned is sufficient on these heads. -Shidosh Bihin was a youth of a finely proportioned person, and -beautiful countenance; the following was the rule observed by him: he -never attached merit to any strange creed, but endeavoured to divest -himself altogether of prejudice, and maintained very little -intercourse with the generality of mankind: when he formed an -intimacy, on the first day he testified only a small degree of warmth; -he exhibited greater attention on the second; so that he daily made -greater advances in the path of friendship; progressively increasing -his love and affection: as to what has been stated relative to his -displaying no great degree of warmth on the first interview, the same -proportion obtained when he shewed a decrease of warmth to some; that -same would be reckoned very great in any other. He always asserted, -that in the society of friends, their intercourse must not be -separated from meditation on God, as whatever is, is but a radiancy -emanating from the sun of his essence: the visible and invisible of -the world being only forms of that existence. Rafiah says: - - “If angels and demons be formed from one principle, - The husbandman, the spring, the seed, and the field must be the - same: - What has his unity to dread from the plurality of the human race? - Although you tie the knot a hundred-fold, there is only a single - cord.” - -Shidosh was seized with so severe an illness in Kashmir, that his case -surpassed the art of the physician: as Urfi says: - - “What physician can there be, if the Messiah himself be taken ill?” - -All the people about Shidosh were disconsolate, but he remained -cheerful of heart, and in proportion as the symptoms became more -aggravated, his cheerfulness increased, and he frequently recited -these couplets from Hafiz: - - “O joyous day, when I depart from this abode of desolation, - Seeking the repose of my soul, and setting out in search of my - beloved: - Dancing like a solar mote around the atmosphere of her lips, - Until I reach the fountain-head of the radiant sun.”[337] - -On the day of his departure from this temporary halting-place to the -eternal mansion of repose and the exalted seat of happiness, his -disconsolate friends and affectionate domestics were deeply afflicted; -but Shidosh retained his cheerfulness and thus addressed them with an -expression of delight: “I am not grieved at this disease of body, why -then do you grieve? nay ought you not to wish that I, having quitted -this gloomy abode of phantasy, should hasten to one beyond the -confines of space, and the mansions of intellect may become united to -the truly existent and independent (first cause).” The Maulavi Mânavi -says thus: - - “If death be a human being, say to him, ‘draw near,’ - That I may closely fold him in a fond embrace. - From him I extort by force eternal life, - Whilst he but snatches from me the Durvish’s party-colored dress.” - -He then lifted up his hands and directing his face to heaven, the -Kiblah of prayer, recited the following blessed couplets front the -_Sahifah al Auliya_, “volume of the Saints,” written by the Imam -_Muhammed Nur Baksh_. - - “Whether we are directors or guides[338] - Still do we want to be guided, on account of the infancy of our steps. - We are but solitary drops from the ocean of existence, - However much we possess of divine revelation and proof. - I am far from the great reservoir of drops, - Convey me, O God, to the boundless ocean of light!” - -On reciting these lines he closed his eyes. The Shaikh Abúlfaiz -Faiyazi says on this subject: - - “The drop became a fountain, and the fountain grew into a river, - Which river became reunited to the ocean of eternity.” - -This event occurred in the year of the Hejirah 1040 (A. D. 1629): his -affectionate friends expressed their grief in the following manner: - - “Thy brilliant hues still exist in the parterre, - Thy fragrance still survives in the jessamine; - The sight of thee is put off to the day of resurrection; - It is well: but it forms the theme of many a tale.” - -The author also in his elegy on Shídósh thus expresses his grief: - - “Since Shídósh departed from my sight - That which was a receptacle of eyes became a receptacle of rivers; - Had my eyes been a channel, they would have become a river-bed: - The resting place of the bird was the paradisian sphere: - From this lowly nest he departed to the nest on high. - He was truly free and sought no stores except those of holy freedom. - He abandoned his body to corporeal matter, and his spirit joined - the spiritual region. - His soul was united to the sublime being, the creator of souls, - Soaring beyond the limits of heaven, earth, and time.” - -If the author attempted to describe the learned and pious Abádíyán who -were seen in the _Dadistan Aursah_,[339] this treatise would never be -brought to a conclusion; he now therefore proceeds to mention some -others, who though professing a faith different from the Yezdánián or -Abadíyán, yet walked according to the institutes of Kaiván’s -disciples, and attained their great object, the knowledge of God: and -although this class is too numerous to be fully described, a few of -the eminent personages are now about to be mentioned. - -_Mahummed Alí_, of Shiraz was the fellow-student of Shah Futtah Allah, -and he traced his family to Azar Kaiván: he however attained -perfection through the society of Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhád, -and had also traversed the seven climes. A thief came to his house one -night, on perceiving whom Muhammed Alí pretended to fall asleep on his -carpet, so that the robber might not suppose him to be awake, and -continue his pursuits without apprehension. The robber searched the -house carefully, but as all the effects were concealed in a secure -place, he was unable to get at them. On this Muhammed raising his -head, said to him: “I laid myself down to sleep, that thou mightst -accomplish thy desires, whereas thou art in despair: be no longer -uneasy.” He then arose and pointed out the place where all the things -were stored away: in consequence of this generous proceeding, the -robber abandoned his infamous profession, and became a virtuous -character. - -_Muhammed Said_ of Isfahan was a Saiyid descended from Husain, who -attained his great object through Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad. -He once said to the author: “The first time I obtained the honor of -admittance to the audience of the distinguished Farzanah, he rose up -on seeing me, and showed the proper respect due to an honorable -person, directing me to be seated on the most distinguished couch. -Some time after, entered a naked Fakir, but Farzanah Bahram moved not -from his place, but pointed him to a seat in the slipper-repository. I -felt this scruple; surely the highest distinction is due to the -Durvish. Farzanah then turning his face to the wall, which was -ornamented with paintings, said: ‘O, lifeless figure, thou art seated -on high; but external form confers not distinction; but Durvishes -enjoy a rank, when their bodies are under the control of their -souls,[340] and their souls united with the supreme object of love; -even in this assembly they are seated with me in my heart.’ On hearing -this, I turned into the right road.” In the year of the Hejirah 1045 -(A. D. 1634), he abandoned this elemental frame in Lahore. - -_Ashur Beg Karamanlu_ is also one of those who obtained the gift of -spiritual intelligence through Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, -notwithstanding the total absence of regular studies: by the exertion -of his innate powers, he, like the other Yekanah Bin “seers of one -God,” attained communion with God. In the year of the Hejirah 1048 (A. -D. 1636) the author conversed with him in Kashmir, and inquired into -the nature of his intercourse with Bahram. He answered: “I went by way -of experiment to Farzanah, and he thus directed me: ‘Whether alone or -in a crowd, in retirement or in public, every breathing which issues -forth must proceed from the head; and on this point there must be no -inattention.’ He also said: ‘Guard the internal breath as long as thou -canst, directing thy face to the pine-formed heart, until the -invocation be performed by the heart in the stomach; also thy -invocation should be thus: ‘God! God!’ Meditate also on this -sentiment: ‘O Lord! none but thou forms the object of my desire!’ When -I had duly practised this, and found its impressive influence, then -from the bottom of my heart I sincerely sought God. After some time he -enjoined me to practise the _Tawajjah-i-Talkín_, ‘turning to -instruction:’ that is: ‘keep thy soul in the presence of God, divested -of letters and sounds, whether Arabic or Persian, never removing thy -mind from the ‘pine-formed heart.’ By conforming to these -instructions, I have come at last to such a state, that the world and -its inhabitants are but as a shadow before me; and their very -existence as the appearance of the vapor of the desert.’” - -He was truly a man who had entirely withdrawn from all external -employments and concerns; never mixing with the people of the world. -If a person deposited food before him, he took only the quantity he -thought proper, and gave away the remainder; he never polluted his -hand with money in gold, silver, or copper; and he frequently passed -two or three days altogether without food and never requested any -thing. - -_Mahmud Beg Timan_, so called from the Timan tribe of Arang in Lahore, -joined himself also to Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, and as the -precepts of that sage were entirely congenial to his mind, he -commenced his religious profession under him, and became one of the -Yekanah Bin, “seer of one God,” and “knowing God:” thus without the -aid of books he attained to the knowledge of the Lord, and -notwithstanding the absence of written volumes, discovered the actual -road. In the year of the Hejirah 1048 (A. D. 1637), whilst in Kashmir, -coming out of his cell one day, he saw before him a wounded dog, -moaning piteously; as the animal was unable to move, he therefore sold -the only two objects he possessed, his carpet for prayer and his -rosary, with the proceeds of which he purchased remedies for the dog. -That same year, he said to the author: “On the first day of turning my -heart to the mental invocation of God, I had scarcely performed it ten -times, when an evident influence was manifested: at the moment of the -first part, called _nafi_, of the sentence, my human existence -disappeared; at the time of the second, called _asbat_, a determined -sign of divine grace became visible: my sentence was this: ‘There is -no God, but God.’”[341] After this manner, several of this sect, by -the diligent practice of faith, attained to the knowledge of God. - -_Musa_ and _Harun_ were two Jews, to whom Farzanah Bahram, the son of -Farhad, gave these names: they were distinguished by a profound -knowledge of their own faith, and highly celebrated among the Rabbins, -who are a particular sect of Jewish teachers. On their introduction -into Bahram’s society, they were fascinated by his manners, and -through his system of faith acquired the knowledge of themselves. They -applied themselves to commerce, and neither in buying or selling did a -falsehood proceed from their lips, as is the custom of merchants. They -have thus recorded: “To whomsoever Bahram, the son of Farhad, uttered -a single word about the path of religion, he became immediately -fascinated by his manner: also whoever beheld him felt an attachment -to him; even the hardened infidel who approached him, humbled himself, -and we have often witnessed such events: for example, the _Mulla -Muhammed Sáid_ of Samarkand, who was our intimate friend, through -excess of prejudice hurried once to revile him: at that moment, Bahram -had retired from Lahore into a burying-ground: when the Mulla -approached, he found himself irresistibly impelled to run forward and -laid his face on Bahram’s feet: and on Bahram’s addressing a few words -to him, immediately embraced his faith. I afterwards questioned the -Mulla about the exact nature of this conversion from infidelity, and -he replied: ‘I no sooner beheld him than I fell at his feet; and when -he addressed a few words to me, I became enraptured with him.’ The -Mullah always styled Bahram ‘the plunderer of hearts.’” - -One day the author asked Musa, “is Kasun thy brother?” he replied, -“people say so.” I then asked, “who is your father?” he answered, “our -mother knows that.” - -_Antun Bushuyah Wávaraj_[342] was a Frank, zealous in the Christian -faith, and also possessed of great property; through divine aid, he -conceived an attachment to the society of Durvishes, and for the -purpose of acquiring knowledge held frequent conferences with them: -through his having discovered the path pointed out by the son of -Furhad, he altogether resigned his worldly concerns, assumed the -profession of a _Kalander_,[343] and denied himself the use of -clothes: Farzanah always called him “Messiah.” He used to appear -perfectly naked, and never wore clothes either summer or winter: he -abstained altogether from animals of every description: he never -solicited any thing, but if a person brought food or drink before him, -if it were not animal food, he would eat part of it. One day, although -an evil-disposed person smote him so that his limbs were wounded, yet -he never even looked at his oppressor; when his persecutor had -departed, I, the author, came up as the people were speaking of the -injury inflicted on him; on my enquiring the particulars from himself, -he replied: “I am not distressed for my own bodily suffering, but that -person’s hands and fists must have suffered so much.” The Imam _Kali -Warastah_, “the humble,” says: - - “If the thorn break in my body, how trifling the pain! - But how acutely I feel for the hapless broken thorn!” - -_Ram Bhót_, a Hindu, was a learned Brahmin of Benares; on joining the -son of Farhad, he desisted altogether from his former rites, and began -to follow the path pointed out by Bahrám. The Mobed Hoshyar says: “I -have often heard wonderful stories concerning him; a person named -Muhammed Yakub was so ill, that the physicians having given up all -hopes of his cure, his relations, in their affliction, had recourse to -an ignorant woman who reckoned herself a skilful personage: I went one -day near Ram Bhót, and found him reposing his head on his knee, on -which this reflection passed across my mind: ‘if Ram Bhót be one of -the elect, he can tell whether Muhammed Yakub is to remain or pass -away.’ He raised up his head, and looking on me with a smile, said: -‘God only knows the hidden secrets; however, Muhammed Yakub is not to -depart: in another week he will be restored to health.’ And truly the -thing came to pass as he had declared.” Through his guidance _Ram -Chand_, a Kshatri, one of the chiefs of the _Sahan Sakal_, adopted the -faith: and through the instruction of these two individuals, many of -their tribe embraced the independent faith as promulgated by the son -of Farhad. The word _Sah_[344] in Hindi is applied to “a possessor or -powerful person,” and the _Sahkal_[345] are a division of the Kshatri, -an Indian cast or tribe. In reality, if the writer attempted to -enumerate the numbers of different nations who zealously adopted the -doctrines and ritual of Bahram, this work would become exceedingly -prolix; he must therefore resist from such an undertaking. The author -of these pages has heard from Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, as -stated on the authority of Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, that -one day the Shaikh _Bahá-ud-din Mohammed Amali_, who was a _Mujtahad_, -“a champion,” of the sectaries of Alí, came near Kaiván and obtained -an interview: having thus become acquainted with Kaiván’s perfection -and wisdom, he was exceedingly rejoiced and happy, and recited this -tetrastich: - - “In the kâbah and the firetemple the perfect saint performed his - rounds, - And found no trace of any existence (save that of God); - As the splendor of the Almighty sheds its rays in every place, - Knock thou either at the door of the kâbah or the portals of the - temple.” - -After this interview, he became the diligent follower of Kaiván, and -resorted to the disciples of the Master of all Sciences. - -_Mir Abulkasim Fandaraski_ also, through his intercourse with Kaiván’s -disciples, became an adorer of the sun, refraining from cruelty -towards all living creatures. It is well known that being once asked: -“Why dost not thou in obedience to the law go on the pilgrimage to -Mecca?” He replied: “I go not on this account, as I must there -slaughter a sheep with my own hand.” At present the author proceeds to -describe with the pen of truth a summary of the institutes of the -_Amézish_, “intercourse,” held by the Abadian Durveshes with society. -Those who adopt this rule call it the _Amèzish-i-Farhang_, or “the -intercourse of science,” and _Mèzchar_, or “Stranger’s remedy.” When a -stranger to their faith is introduced to one of their assemblies, far -from addressing harsh observations to him, they pass eulogiums on his -tenets, approve whatever he says, and do not omit to lavish on him -every mark of attention and respect: this conduct proceeds from the -fundamental article of their creed, as they are convinced that in -every mode of belief, its followers may come to God: nay, if those of -a different faith should present them a request respecting some object -about which they disagree, that is, solicit some act by which they may -approach God, they do not withhold their compliance. They do not -enjoin a person to abandon his actual profession of faith, as they -account it unnecessary to give him useless pain of mind. Moreover when -any one is engaged in concerns with them, they withhold not their aid -from his society and support, but practise towards him to the utmost -extent of their ability, whatever is most praiseworthy in this world -and the next: they are also on their guard against indulging in -sentiments of prejudice, hatred, envy, malice, giving pre-eminence to -one faith above another, or adopting one creed in preference to -another. They also esteem the learned, the Durvishes, the pure of -life, the worshippers of God in every religion, as their trusty -friends; neither styling the generality of mankind wicked, nor holding -worldly-minded persons in abhorrence: they observe, “what business has -he who desires not this world’s goods to abhor the world?” for the -sentiment of abhorrence can proceed from the envious alone. They -neither communicate their secrets to strangers, nor reveal what -another communicates to them. - -A person named _Mihráb_ was among the disciples who followed the son -of Farhad, in the year of the Hejirah 1047 (A. D. 1637); the author, -who was then in Kashmir, thus heard from Muhammad Fál Hasîrî: “I once -beheld Mihráb standing in the high road, at the moment when a -Khorasánian, seizing on an old man by force, obliged him to labor for -him without recompense, and placed a heavy burden on his head: at this -Mihráb’s heart so burned within him, that he said to the Khorasánian, -‘Withdraw thy hand from this old man, that I may bear the burden -whithersoever thou desirest.’ The Khorasánian was astonished, but -Mihráb, without paying any farther attention to this, took the poor -man’s load on his head, and went along with his unjust oppressor, and -on his return from that person’s house showed no symptoms of fatigue. -On my observing to him, ‘This oppressor has heaped affliction on a -holy priest and judge like thee!’ he replied, ‘What could a helpless -person do? the load must be conveyed to his house, and he was unable -to place it on his shoulders, as it was unbecoming for him; nor was he -able to give money (which is difficult to be procured) in payment of -his labour: he of course seized on some one to perform his work. I -applaud him for granting my request, and feel grateful to the old man -for complying with my wishes, suffering me to take his place, and -transferring his employment to myself.’” - -Hafiz of Shiraz thus expresses himself: - - “The heavens themselves cannot remove the weight confided to us; - The lot of labour fell to my hapless name.” - -_Máh Ab_, the younger brother of the above _Mihráb_, was seen by the -compiler of this work in attendance on the son of Farhad, and in the -year of the Hejirah 1048 (A. D. 1638) he thus heard from the Mulla -_Mahdi_ of Lahóre: “Bahram having one day sent him on some errand to -the bazar, he happened to pass by the house of a person in the service -of _Alim Uddin_ of Halsub, styled _Wazir Khan_; the soldier was then -chastising his slave, saying: ‘Thou hast fraudulently sold one of my -captives.’ Máháb coming near the soldier, said to him: ‘Withdraw thy -hand from this slave, and accept me in place of him who has run away.’ -Nay, this request was so importunately urged, that the soldier finally -accepted the offer and desisted from beating his slave. However, when -the soldier had discovered Máháb’s spiritual gifts, he permitted him -to return home, but Máháb would not quit him. A week after this event, -Farhad said in my presence, ‘I know not where Máháb is;’ on which, -resting his head on his knees, he directed his heaven-contemplating -attention to the subject, and the instant after, raising up his head, -said: ‘Máháb is in the service of a certain soldier, and has -voluntarily resigned his person to servitude.’ He forthwith proceeded -to the soldier’s abode and brought back Máháb.” Many similar -transactions are recorded of these sectaries. _Muhammed Shariz_, -styled _Amir ul Umra_,[346] a Shirazi by descent, thus says: - - “Through auspicious love we make perfect peace in both worlds, - Be thou an antagonist, but experience nothing but love from us.” - -It is to be observed that Halsub is a place in one of the districts of -the _Parjab_. - -A short notice of the _Amîzesh-i Farhang_, or institute of the -Abadíyah Durveshes, having been thus given, we next proceed to -describe with the pen of truth the chiefs and rulers of that religion. -But it is always to be borne in mind that the faith of the princes of -Persia, whether of the _Abadian_, _Jaian_, _Shaian_, _Yesani-an_, nay -of the _Peshdadian_, _Kaianian_, _Ashkanian_, and _Sassanian_ -dynasties was such as has been described; and although the system of -Zardusht obtained the pre-eminence, yet they have by means of glosses -reconciled his faith with that professed by _Abad_, _Kaiomars_, and -the system of _Húshang_, called the _Farhang Kesh_ or “excellent -faith;”[347] they regarded with horror whatever was contrary to the -code of Abád, which they extolled by all means in their power, as -_Parviz_ the son of _Hormuz_,[348] in his answer to the Roman emperor, -thus expresses himself: - - “We feel no shame in professing our ancient faith, - No other creed in this world can compete with that of Húshang. - The whole object of this code consists in promoting justice and love: - And contemplating the numbers of the celestial spheres.” - -They give _Máhábád_ the names of _Azar Húshang_, _A Húshang_, -_Húshang_, and _A Hosh_. It is also recorded, that the Almighty -bestowed on the princes of _Ajam_[349] prudence, sagacity, and -perfection of intellect, whereby their theories were connected with -practical results, and their words quite in harmony with their deeds, -so that their rule over this revolving world for so many thousand -years was entirely owing to the efficacy of the above-mentioned -principles and covenants. - - - [316] Edit. of Calcutta: در و چون بسی برتری يافتم In one - manuscript: وچون بسی برتری يافتم. In the manuscript of Oude: - درون چون بسی برتری يافتم. The first is best. - - [317] Edit. of Calcutta and the manuscript of Oude have: - سروشی بتابيد آهرمنی. Two other manuscripts: سروشی نپايدء و - آهرمنی. The latter seems to be the better reading. - - [318] Edit. of Calcutta and the manuscript of Oude: فراموش; - two other manuscripts, مرا هوش――the better reading by far. - - [319] Two manuscripts have ز between ساخود and سايه; the - edit. of Calcutta and the manuscript of Oude have خود سايه. - - [320] The text has: - بدان ره که رفتم شدم سوی تن - بعد ايزدی فره زان انجمن - _Izedi_ means any thing given for God’s sake, or as one’s - due; here it seems to signify a divine gift. يزد, ايزد, - _ized_, also يزدان, _yezdan_, is the name of God, and may be - derived from ईश, _ísa_, “to possess power,” ईष, _ísha_, “to - give,” इष, _isha_, to wish, or according to Hyde (p. 159), - from يشتن, _ishten_, “supplicare, intercedere.” _Ized_ is - also light, purity; it is the name of good spirits, created - for the good of the world, and appointed to protect - individuals.――A. T. - - [321] In the Gulshen raz, a poem quoted in our note p. 82, - this idea is expressed in several verses, of which the - following: - جهان از عقل و نفس و چرخ و اجرام - جون يک قطره دان زاغاز و انجام - - “The world, which is composed of intellect, soul, heavens, - and bodies, - Know them to be as a drop from beginning to end.” - - Room is wanted for quoting, as a curious coincidence with - this image, four beautiful strophes of Klopstock, from his - ode “_Die Frühlingsfeyer_,” the Festivity of Spring.――A. T. - - [322] This verse has already been quoted, page 6. - - [323] Allusion is here made to the four immediate successors - of Mohammed; these were _Abubeker_, _Omár_, _Osman_, and - _Alí_. - - The first who took the title of _khalif_, that is - “lieutenant of the Prophet,” was _Abdallah_, better known by - the name of ابو بِکْر, _Abúbeker_, “Father of the Virgin,” - so called because Aíshá, his daughter, was the only one of - Mohammed’s wives who had not been before married to another - man. He was also distinguished by the title of صديق _sadik_, - or “the faithful witness,” given to him because he, the - first Muselman after Mohammed’s preaching, attested the - miracle of the Prophet’s ascension to heaven. It was he who - collected the verses of the Koran, which were written upon - separate leaves, into one volume, called _Almoshaf_, “the - book by excellence,” the original text of which was - deposited in the hands of Hafsat, daughter of Omar and widow - of Mohammed. After a reign of two years and three months, he - died in the year 13 of the Hejira, 634 A. D., not without - having named his successor. - - This was _Omar Ben al-Khetab_, known under the title of - فاروق, _fárúk´_, “the separator,” so called by Mohammed, - because he had separated the head from the body of a - Muselman who, not satisfied with the decision which the - Prophet had given in a law-suit, came to submit the case to - Omar’s revision. Under Abubeker’s khalifat, Omar acted as - chief of justice, or chancellor. As khalif he was the first - who took the title of امير ألمومنين, _Emir al-Múmením_, - “prince or commander of the faithful,” which title devolved - to all his successors. He conquered Syria, Chaldæa, - Mesopotamia, Persia, and Egypt, and built the town of - Bassora at the mouth of the Tigris, in order to prevent the - Persians from taking the route to India by the gulph of - Persia. After a reign of ten years he was killed by the hand - of a Persian slave, who, having complained of his master’s - cruelty to him, did not receive the expected redress. Omar, - a judge cruel but just, would not fix the right of - succession upon his son, but wishing to keep the khalifat - elective, named six persons, called اهل الشوري, _ahel - al-shurah_, “people of council,” who should choose a khalif - among themselves. - - Among these were _Osman_ and _Ali_. After a hard contest - between these two competitors, the former, supported by his - four colleagues, was proclaimed khalif at the end of the - year 23, or the beginning of 24 of the Hejira, 643 or 644 A. - D. Osman Ben Affan was called by his partisans ذو النورين, - _zo ul naráin_, “the possessor of two lights,” because he - had married Rakíah and Omm al Kachúm, both daughters of - Mohammed, whose prophecy was supposed to be the source of - light diffused over his whole posterity. Osman published the - Koran such as it was in the original text, deposited (as was - before said) in the hands of Hafsat, one of Mohammed’s - widows, and he caused all copies, differing from this one, - to be suppressed. The domination of the Mohammedans was - established and extended, to the east, in Khorassen and in - Upper Asia; to the west, over the whole northern coast of - Africa and even a part of Spain, during this khalif’s reign, - which, after eleven years, terminated by his violent death - in an insurrection which took place against him in Egypt. - - The Egyptians offered the government to Ali. As before - mentioned, he was one of the six persons named by Omar as - fit for the khalifat, which Ali claimed as his right, being - the cousin-german and son-in-law (husband of Fatima, the - eldest daughter) of Mohammed, and thus the head of the - family of the Hashemites, who were distinguished by the name - of “the house of the Prophet.” After Osman’s death, Ali was - by his party proclaimed the head of the Muselmans. His title - was اسد الله الغالب, _assad allah al-ghaleb_, “the lion of - God, the victorious.” Possessed of great learning, he - composed several celebrated works in prose and in verse, - although he had to sustain a continual struggle with the - adverse party. He was assassinated in Kufa, in the year 40 - of the Hejira, 660 A. D. After him, his sons Hassan and - Hossain (see note 3, pp. 47-48) fell victims to Moavia, a - relation of Osman, and the mortal enemy of the whole race of - Ali. The contest between these two parties was, after the - death of their chiefs, carried on by their numerous - adherents, and, connected as it is with some difference in - their religious opinions and rites, continues to our days. - Ali is acknowledged the head of the شيعة, _Shiâts_, which - word means in general “a troop, a party,” but is - particularly applied to those who believe that the _Imamat_, - or the supreme dignity over the Muselmans, belongs by right - to Alí and his descendants, who call themselves - _Aladiliats_, or “the party of the just.” Opposed to them - are the _Sonnites_, so called from the Arabic word _sonnat_, - which signifies “precept, rule,” or the orthodox faith of - Muselmans, comprehending the traditional laws relative to - whatever has not been written by the great legislator (see - Herbelot, _sub voc._).――A. T. - - [324] Zu-l-Ulum, “master of sciences,” was a title of Kaiván. - - [325] Nushirvan, called by the Arabs _Kesra_, by the - Persians _Khosru_, is reckoned by some authors the 19th (by - others the 20th) Persian king of the Sassáníán dynasty, - which, according to different opinions, was composed of 31, - 30, or 29 princes, and lasted 527, 500, or 431 years. - Nushirvan reigned from 531 to 579 after J. C. He was called - “the just:” from the outside of his palace to his room was - drawn a chain, by the motion of which he could have notice - of any complainant who wanted redress. He was victorious in - the east and west of Asia; he destroyed the prophet _Mazdak_ - (of whom see hereafter, section XV); he brought from India - to Persia the fables of _Pilpay_, called _Anvarí Sohíli_, - “the Canopian lights,” and a game similar to chess. During - his reign Mohammed was born. Nushirvan’s favorite minister, - _Buzerg-Mihr_, called also _Buzer-Jmihr_, was famous for - virtue and wisdom; about both these personages a great - number of marvellous and fabulous accounts forms the matter - of favorite poems in the East.――A. T. - - [326] Ardeshir Babegan was the first king, and founder of - the IVth dynasty of Persian kings, called the _Sasssáníáns_, - or the _Khosroes_. His father was _Sassan_, a descendant of - another _Sassan_, the son of _Bahman Isfendiar_, the 6th - king of the IId Persian dynasty, called the _Kayánian_. The - latter Sassan was reduced to a low station, having become - the shepherd of _Babek_, a wealthy man, whose daughter he - married;――he had by her a son named Ardeshir, who took the - name of his maternal grandfather (which is to be noted as an - Indian custom): hence he was called _Babegan_. He is - identified with the Artaxerxes of the Greeks, a contemporary - of the Roman emperor Commodus (A. D. 180-193). The epoch of - his reign is one of the most uncertain points of Persian - history. It may be fixed from the year 200 to 240 of the - Christian era.――A. T. - - [327] The 5th Sassan, above mentioned, is said to be the - last of fifteen Persian prophets, the first of whom was - Mahábad, and the 13th Zoroaster. The fifth Sassan lived in - the time of Khosru Parviz, who reigned, the 21st or 22nd - king of the Sassáníáns, from 591 to 628 of the Christian - era. We read in the Persian preface of the Desatir, that - five years after the death of Khosru Parviz (that is in the - year 634), the Persian empire being shaken by the conquests - of the Arabs, the fifth Sassan translated the Desatir. The - English preface of the same work states, that “he died only - nine years before the destruction of the ancient Persian - monarchy,” or nine years before 652, which would be in the - year 643 of our era. It appears from the Desatir (English - transl. p. 192), that the fifth Sassan, not less than his - father, the fourth Sassan, was attached to the king Parviz, - of whom he says (ibid. p. 202): “From the wickedness of - mankind did it arise that such an angel-tempered king was - taken from the Hirtasis (Persia).”――A. T. - - [328] Bahrám Gur (Varanes V), the son of Yezdejird _badkar_ - (the iniquitous), was educated out of Persia. After the - death of his father, the throne having been given to Kisra, - a stranger, Bahram came to dispute the crown, which he - proposed should be placed between two famished lions, and - belong to him who should seize it there. Kisra accepted the - proposal, but would not attempt the first to snatch what he - already possessed. Bahram then, after having killed the - fierce animals, took and kept the prize with universal - applause. He was the 13th (or 14th) king of the Sássáníans. - After having repulsed an invasion of the Turks, and secured - his empire, he left Persia, and travelled in disguise to - India in search of adventures; by a series of daring - actions, he gained a great reputation, and the hand of an - Indian princess, with whom, after two years of absence, he - returned to Persia. Fortunate in war against Greeks and - Arabians, he lost his life in a hunting party, after a reign - of 23 (some say 18) years, which is placed from 420 to 438 - of our era.――A. T. - - [329] This passage is very obscure――the occurrences here - mentioned must have been local.――D. S. - - [330] Akbar Abad (Akbar’s town) was Agra. - - [331] Sadah is the name of the 16th night of the Persian - month Bahman (the 11th of the year, January). This night is - solemnized by fires lighted in towns and in the fields - (Herbelot).――A. T. - - [332] Jamasp, a great priest of the religion of Zoroaster, - and supposed author of a Persian work upon the great - conjunctions of the planets, and upon the events which they - produce. This work was translated into Arabic by Lalí, in - the year 1280 of our era. According to the Shah-namah and to - some historians, Jamasp was the brother of Gustasp, the Vth - Persian king of the Péshdadían dynasty (Herbelot). In the - book Múgjizat Farsi (see Hyde, Prefatio), Jamasp is the VIth - of ten Persian prophets, who are enumerated as follows: I. - Feridun; II. Alexander; III. Anushirvan; IV. Baheramgor; V. - Rustam; VI. Jamasp; VII. Buzurgjmihr; VIII. Barbud; IX. an - anonymous sculptor of the beautiful horse Shabdiz, which had - belonged to king Parviz; X. Ferhad, a celebrated architect, - enamoured of Shírín, the wife of Parviz.――A. T. - - [333] The Lulees in Persia and in other parts of Asia are - women of the same description as the dancing girls in India, - devoted to pleasure, and exercising their art of pleasing at - all festivals, public and private.――A. T. - - [334] These verses of Hafiz, p. 56, edit. of Calcutta, are - again quoted, p. 6, of the same edit.; but instead of ازپی - جانام; which occur in the first of these pages, we find in - the last درپی جانام; which last reading was adopted.――A. T. - - [335] چمچمہ _chamchamah_, “a skull,” answers to कपाल - _kapála_, which signifies skull, and a skull-like bowl, in - which beggars receive alms.――A. T. - - [336] कपाल आसन. - - [337] These verses have been quoted before, page 119. - - [338] Mahdí, “guide,” in the original is perhaps an allusion - to the name of the twelfth and last Imam of the race of Alí. - The Persians believe that he is still living, and will - appear with the prophet Elias at the second coming of Jesus - Christ, and will be one of the two witnesses mentioned in - the Apocalypse (Herbelot).――A. T. - - [339] The printed copy reads داد ستان اورسه, and the manuscripts - داد ستان داورشه and داد ستان داورسه, the MS. of Oude has - داد ستان سُه داور. - - [340] The printed copy reads درپای جان, the MSS., with that - of Oude, have درپای ما جان. - - [341] This corresponds to the Arabic: _la ila hah illilla_; - the first part of which, _la ila hah_, “there is no God,” is - called _nafi_, “negation;” the other part, _illi la_, “but - God,” is called _asbát_, “confirmation.” To which is added: - _Mohammed resul ulla_, “Muhammed is his prophet.”――A. T. - - [342] The two MSS. read _Antun pashutah dakardaj_; the MS. - of Oude, _Anton pashuyah_. - - [343] A Kalander is a person of religious pretensions, a - sort of durvish not generally approved by the - Muhammedans――(_Herbelot_). - - [344] Perhaps सहस् _sahas_, “strength, power, light.”――A. T. - - [345] Perhaps सकुल _sakula_, “having a family.”――A. T. - - [346] _Amir_ signifies “commander, chief, prince.” This - title was once borne by sovereigns, but in the course of - time was changed for that of Sultan, it remained a title - given only to princes, their sons. _Amir ul Omra_ signifies - “the commander of commanders” (_Herbelot_).――A. T. - - [347] The Persians pretend to have (see my note, p. 32, and - Hyde, _Prefatio_) a book more ancient than the writings of - Zoroaster, called _Jávídán Khirid_, “the eternal wisdom,” - which treats of practical philosophy, and the author of - which is supposed to have been Húshang.――A. T. - - [348] Khosro Parviz was the grandson of Nushirvan, mentioned - in our note, page 105, as contemporary of the fifth Sasan, - the translator and commentator of the Desatir. Parviz, soon - after having taken possession of his father’s throne, was - driven out of Persia by a fortunate usurper, called _Bahram - Júbín_, and took refuge in the court of the Greek emperor - Mauritius, from whom he obtained not only protection, but - also the hand of his daughter named _Mary_ by some, and by - others Shírin, and a powerful army to recover the kingdom of - Persia. According to _Eben Batrik_ (see _Herbelot_), it was - after having been restored to his sovereignty, that he sued - for marriage with the daughter of Mauritius, who answered - that he could not grant his daughter, unless the Persian - monarch adopted the Christian faith. The verses in the text - seem to refer to this circumstance, but express at the same - time a strong attachment of Parviz to the ancient religion - of his country, whilst, according to the Arabian author just - quoted, this prince apostatised, in spite of his opposing - grandees, for the sake of the beautiful Shirín, for whom he - had conceived an irresistible passion. Mauritius, his - father-in-law, having been put to death, with all his - children except one son, Parviz endeavoured to replace this - remaining son upon the throne of his father. At first - successful against Phocas, he was defeated by Heraclius, the - successor of the Greek emperor; he lost all his conquests, - his reputation, his liberty, and at last his life, by a - parricide, his son and successor, Shiruyah or Sirocs.――A. T. - - [349] Ajem includes all Asia except Arabia. The Arabians, as - formerly the Greeks, call the inhabitants of all countries - except their own, Barbarians; but here, and elsewhere, the - author takes Ajem for Persia.――A. T. - - - - -SECTION III. - - -THE THIRD SECTION OF THE DABISTAN explains the laws of the -Paímán-i-Farhang (excellent covenant) and the Hirbed Sár (the pure -Highpriest). - -The _Paiman-i-Farhang_ is the code of Máhábád, of which many -translations have been made; one of them is that made by _Faridun_, -the son of _Abtin_: another; that of _Buzurg-Mihr_[350] for the use of -_Nushirvan_, the son of _Kobad_; some extracts from these have been -given in the present work. The _Yazdanian_, “godly,” who are also -called _Sahi Kesh_, “flourishing faith,” and _Sipásî_, “adorers,” -maintain that the most exalted of the prophets, the mightiest of -kings, and the sire of the human race which exists in this cycle was -_Máhábád_, whom they also call _Azar Hushang_, “the fire of wisdom.” -They also say that it is thus recorded in the code of this venerable -personage, which is the word of God; and that moreover, this mighty -prince has himself expressly announced that the Divine Essence, which -has no equal, is totally devoid and divested of all form and figure; -incapable of being the object of conception or similitude: also that -the tropes of the most eloquent orators, the illustrations of the most -enlightened and profound geniuses, are utterly unable to convey a -clear idea of the light, which has neither perceptible color nor sign: -the sublime speculations of the learned and the discriminating -understandings of the sage are too feeble to comprehend the substance -of the pure essence of that light, which is without equal, quality, -color, or model: also that all existences have proceeded from the -bounty and wisdom of the Almighty, and are consequently his creation: -that not a single atom in this world, nor even the motion of a hair on -the body of a living creature escapes his knowledge: all which -propositions are proved by evident demonstrations deduced from various -premises, and accompanied by excellent commentaries, the enumeration -of which this abridged treatise cannot admit. Also that the cognizance -of the self-existent God extends alike to the most minute particles of -matter and the entire universe. - -DESCRIPTION OF THE GREAT ANGELS OF THE FIRST ORDER.――In the code of -the great apostle Máhábád it is thus stated; the work of God is above -the power of the tongue, and infinitely exceeds the calculations to -which the inhabitants of this lower elemental world have recourse: the -operations of the Eternal are from eternity to eternity: they assign -the name of _Bahman_[351] to the first Angel whom the Almighty -invested with the mantle of existence, and through the medium of whom -it was communicated to others. The planets, fixed stars, and heavens -have each their peculiar conservative Angel; also the four elements -below the lunar sphere have four conservative Angels, and in like -manner all productions connected with them: for example, in minerals -there are many precious stones, such as rubies, sapphires, and -emeralds of every kind, which are under the dominion of their good, -munificent, protecting Angel: and so on with respect to all species of -vegetable and animal productions. The name given to the conservative -angel of mankind is _Farun Faro Vakhshúr_.[352] - -DESCRIPTION OF THE SECOND ORDER OF ANGELS.――The code of Máhábád states -that the second rank is assigned to the Angels connected with bodies: -that is, every heaven and every star has a simple uncompounded spirit, -bare of matter, as it is neither a body nor material: also that all -living beings in the world have an uncompounded soul. - -DESCRIPTION OF THE THIRD ORDER OF ANGELS.――It is stated in the code of -Máhábád, that angelic beings of the third rank are the same as the -superior and inferior bodies. The superior bodies are those of the -sphere and the stars; and the inferior the four (_guhar_) elements. -The most noble of all bodies are those of the sphere. - -DESCRIPTION OF THE GRADATIONS OF PARADISE.――The code of Máhábád states -thus: “In the _Mînú_ or ‘azure heaven’ there are many gradations, we -shall first enumerate the gradations of Paradise in this lower world. -The first gradation consists of minerals, such as rubies, sapphires, -emeralds, and the like; the second of vegetation, such as plane trees, -cypress, gardens, etc.; the third of animals, such as the Arab horse, -the camel, and such like; the fourth consisting of selected -individuals amongst men, such as princes and those connected with that -class, persons in the enjoyment of health, the contented, and such -like; all which gradations they call _Mînú Sár_, ‘celestial abode,’ -and _Bîst Lád_,[353] that is, _Feróden feró_, ‘the low foundation.’” -In these states there is a retrospect; for example, there is one man -who in relation to his deeds gradually descends to the animal state; -whilst the terrene particles of virtuous men’s bodies change either to -the vegetable state or that of the choicest minerals, however without -the existence of an incorporeal soul in either of them. On ascending -from this state, the change is called _Lim Sar_, or “dwelling on -high;” the first is the lunar step; for in the soul of the exalted -moon are the forms of all those beings into which the elements enter. -A person on arriving there remains in it, becoming the regent of all -the lower world, and in proportion to his knowledge and the habits -resulting from his laudable qualities, assumes a better form. On -arriving at a higher rank than this, he finds augmented delight as far -as the solar step; for the sun is the _Pirah-i-Yazdan_, or “the -ornament of God,” that is, the viceroy of the Lord and sovereign of -the stars, whose gracious influence pervades both high and low. On -leaving this and passing through the various gradations to the -empyreal heaven, every step becomes more delightful and excellent. On -ascending beyond the great sphere, he arrives at the curtain[354] of -the great Angels and contemplates the Lord of the light of lights -surrounded by angels: no state can surpass the beatitude and glory of -this gradation, which is called the _Mînúiván Mînú_, or “heaven of -heavens.” - -DESCRIPTION OF THE INFERNAL REGIONS.――The code of Máhábád states thus: -Hell is situated under the sphere of _the moon_:[355] the first step -consisting of minerals in mis-shapen masses, or stones without worth; -of plants, thorny and vile and poisonous herbage; of living creatures, -such as ants, serpents, and scorpions; and of men labouring under -indigence, sickness, feebleness, ignorance, and disgrace: in this step -man is punished for whatever evil actions he has committed, and -escapes not without due retribution. However, the severest gradation -of the infernal regions is that of mental anguish, which is -appropriated to the irreligious philosophers, for when his elemental -body is dissolved, they do not assign him another; so that he finds -not his way to heaven, but remains in the lower elemental world, -consumed by the flames of anguish: besides, in consequence of his -detestable qualities, his tormentors pounce upon him in the shape of -serpents, scorpions, and other such plagues. This state they -denominate _Puchán-i-Púch_, or “the hell of hells.” - -The code of Máhábád also states, that whatever occurs in this -elemental world proceeds entirely from the planets; so that their -adoration, next to that of the Almighty, becomes an indispensable -duty: for these luminaries approach near the palace of the Almighty, -and the chiefs of the court of eternity. In this world, whoever draws -near the seat of grandeur, must have a friend to sound his praise, -which is a measure much to be commended. The person who undertakes a -journey cannot do without a guide, and he who goes to a city where he -has no friend, meets with difficulty: consequently, the worship -tendered to these dignities is much to be commended. The stars are -truly many in number, but amidst these multitudes, the influences of -the seven planets are the most evident: also of all the starry hosts -the sun is the sovereign lord. It is therefore necessary to form seven -images, and to raise that of the sun above the others; the temples -built by the Abadîán princes were open on all sides, so that when the -sun shone they were exceedingly bright in the interior; not like the -Hindoo idol-temples, in which they walk about with lamps, even in the -day time: the roofs of the Abadîán temples were also rather elevated. -The emperors and princes are individuals of the most select -description, on which account the king should find repose in the -fourth sphere, which is one of the solar regions. As it is evident -that the stars are set by God for the due government of the world, in -like manner it is clear that it is not every individual -indiscriminately who attains to the regal dignity, but only a royal -personage, not opposed to the _Farhang-Abád_, or the law of _Azar -Húshang_: as otherwise he would be undeserving of the supreme power. -Of the qualifications indispensably requisite in a monarch, the first -is conformity to the faith above described, and firmness in adhering -to it. In the next place, if on the side of both parents, which means -_Hasab va Nasab_, “accomplishments and genealogy,” he were of royal -descent, it would be more advantageous: the meaning of royal birth is -to be the possessor of the kingdom of justice; if every external -qualification be united with the supreme power, it is much more -agreeable, so that the king should not say, “I am more excellent than -my father, and he than his ancestors:” on the contrary, he styles his -father “highly distinguished,” and his grandfather “far superior.” -Moreover, if any one should praise him on this account, he should -order that person to be chastised. _Azizi_, “a distinguished -man,”[356] has said: “The following is what we mean by this principle; -that as one sire is superior to another, if a son should imagine -himself the greater, then each child would reckon himself superior to -his father, and there would then be no acknowledged ruler.” - -A king must also be provided with a distinguished mathematician as -prime minister, to whom the calculators and astronomers should be -subject; in every city there should be an astronomer or surveyor; and -an _Arshiya_,[357] or accountant, should act as vizir, one well versed -in the amount of rents paid by the Rayas; he must also have -commissaries; and as there are attached to every city many villages -and hamlets, the king’s private property, to which the local director -attends, that officer is called the _Vizhak_. Also with every vizir, -whether absent or present, there should be two _Ustuwars_ or -supervisors, and two _Shudahbands_, or recorders of occurrences; the -same rule is to be observed with all administrators, and the _Samán -Sálár_, or head steward, the chief reporters and inspectors should -also be each accompanied by two Ustuwars and two Shudahbands. -_Dustoor_, or prime minister, means the person to whose department the -public revenue is attached: the copies of the registers of all the -vizirs should be regularly kept at the seat of government, as well as -the papers of the Shudahbands. - -The king also requires military commanders, in order that they may -keep the soldiers in due discipline. The first dignity consists of the -chiefs of a hundred thousand cavalry; the second, of the commanders of -thousands; the third, of the commanders of hundreds; the fourth, of -the rulers over tens; and the fifth, of those accompanied by two, -three, four, or five persons. Thus in this assemblage every ten -persons have an officer and every hundred a Sipahdar, called in the -popular language of Hindustan _Bakhshi_, “pay-master,” in that of -Iran, _Lashkar Navîs_, or “army-registrar,” and in Arabic, _Ariz_, or -“notary:” a similar arrangement must be observed in the infantry. In -like manner, when the military in regular succession are in attendance -on the king, there is at court a _Bárnîgárî_, or “registrar,” to set -down those who are absent as well as those present; in the popular -language of India this officer is styled _Chauki Navîs_, or “register -keeper;” they are accompanied by a _Shudahband_, an _Ustuwar_, and -sentinels, so that they may not go to their homes nor give way to -sleep until their period of duty is terminated: there are also -different sentinels for day and night. It is also so arranged that -there should be always four persons together on each watch, two of -whom may indulge in sleep whilst the other two remain awake. In every -city where the king is present there ought to be a _Shudahband_, to -report to the king whatever occurs in the city: the same rule should -be observed in the other cities also: this functionary they call, in -India, _Wakia-Navis_, “news-writer.” There should also be a _Shahnah_, -or “intendant of police,” styled _Farhang-i-roz_, “registrar of the -day,” who is to conduct all affairs with due prudence, and not suffer -people to inflict injury on each other. He is to have two -_Shudahbands_ and an _Ustuwar_ or “confidential secretary.” In like -manner, among the troops of the great nobles there must be two -_Shudahbands_; and in all provinces a _Shahrdar_, or governor; and in -every city a _Bud-andoz_, or collector-general, a _Sipah-dar_, that is -a Bakhshi, and an intendant of police, or _Shahnah_; it is to be noted -that among the Yezdánían, a _Kázî_ and _Shuhnah_ were the same, as the -people practised no oppression towards each other. The _Shudahband_, -the _Návand_ (writer), and the _Rávand_ (courier), or those who -conveyed intelligence to the king, had many spies set over them -secretly by his majesty, and all those officers wrote him an account -of whatever occurred in the city. If the _Sipahdars_ did not give the -men their just dues, these officers called them to account: also if a -superior noble acted in a similar manner towards his inferiors, they -instituted an inquiry into his conduct: they also took note of the -spies; so that if any secret agent made himself known as such, he was -immediately dismissed. If any one kept the due of the soldier or of -the cultivator, in the name of the king, and did not account for it, -they inflicted chastisement on him. The officers were obliged to -delineate the features of every one employed in the cavalry or -infantry, and also to furnish a representation of his horse, and to -give the men their regular pay with punctuality. Previous to the -Gilsháhian dynasty, no one ever branded the king’s horses, as this was -regarded as an act of cruelty towards the animal: most of the soldiers -also were furnished with horses by the king, as the sovereigns of Ajem -had many studs. On the death of a horse, the testimony of the -collectors and inspectors was requisite. Every soldier who received -not a horse from the king, brought his own with him: they also took -one out of twenty from the Rayas. However, under the Sassanian -princes, the Rayas requested “to take from them one out of ten:” and -as this proposition was accepted, it was therefore called -_Baj-i-hamdastani_, or voluntary contribution, as having been settled -by the consent of the Rayas. - -The Omras and the great of the kingdom, near and far, had not the -power to put a guilty man to death; but when the _Shadahband_, -“recorder,” brought a case before the king, his majesty acted -according to the prescriptions of the _Ferhang-abad_, unless in the -case of executing a dangerous rebel, when, from sparing him until -receiving the king’s will, a great evil would arise to the country. - -They laid down this royal ordinance: that if the king sent even a -single person, he was to bring back the head of the commander of a -hundred thousand; nay, that person never turned aside from the -punishment. For example, when such a commander in the time of Shah -_Máhbúl_ had put an innocent man to death, the prince sent a person -who was to behead the criminal on a day on which the nobles were all -assembled: and of this there are innumerable examples. Also in the -time of Shah _Faridún_, the son of _Abtin_, the son of _Farshad_, the -son of _Shá-î Gilîv_, a general named _Máhlád_ was governor of -_Khorosan_: and he having put to death one of the village chiefs, the -Shudahbands reported to the king all the public and private details of -the fact, on receiving which the king thus wrote to Máhlád: “Thou hast -acted contrary to the Farhang Abad.” When Mahlád had perused the -king’s letter, he assembled the chief men of the province, and sending -for the village chieftain’s son, put a sword in his hand that he might -cut off his head: the son replied: “I consent to pass over my father’s -blood.” Máhlád, however, would not agree to this, and insisted so -earnestly, that the young man cut off his head, which was sent to the -court. The king greatly commended this conduct, and according to his -usual practice conferred Máhlád’s office on his son. In the same -manner, the Moghúls submitted implicitly to the commands of the Lord -strengthened by the Almighty, that is, to _Jenghiz Khan_;[358] and the -tribes of _Kazl-Básh_[359] were equally obedient to _Ismail Safavi_ -during his reign. But the kings of Ajem were averse to the infliction -of capital punishments, so that until a criminal had been declared -deserving of death, according to the Abádían code, the order for his -execution was not issued. - -The kings and chieftains of Iran never addressed harsh language to any -one; but whenever a person deserved chastisement or death, they -summoned the _Farhangdar_, or “judge,” and the _Dad-sitani_, or -“mufti;” on which, whatever the code of _Farhang-abad_ enjoined in the -case, whether beating with rods or confinement, was carried into -effect: but the beating and imprisonment were never executed by low -persons. Whatever intelligence was communicated by spies was submitted -to a careful examination, in which they took great pains; and that -unless reports made by two or more spies coincided, they carried -nothing into execution. The princes and young nobles, like all others, -began by personal attendance on the king: for example, the routine of -_Hash-o-bash_, or “presence and absence” at court, was enjoined them -in rotation, that they might better understand the state of humbler -individuals: they even attended on foot, that they might more easily -conceive the toils of the foot-soldier. - -_Bahzad_ the Yasanian, in one of his marches having proceeded a short -distance, alighted from his horse,[360] on which a distinguished -noble, named _Naubar_, thus remarked: “On a march it is not proper to -remain satisfied with so short a journey.” On this, _Bahzad_ Shah, -leaving the army in that place, said to the commander _Naubar_, “Let -us two make a short excursion.” He himself mounted on horseback, and -obliged the other to advance on foot. They thus traversed mountain and -plain, until _Naubar_ became overpowered by fatigue, on which _Bahzad_ -said: “Exert thyself, for our halting place is near;” but he having -replied, “I am no longer able to move,” the king rejoined; “O -oppressor! as thou art no longer able to proceed, dost thou not -perceive that those who are on foot experience similar distress from -performing too long a march?” - - “Thou, who feelest not for the distress of others, - Meritest not to be called by the name of man.” - -The military, in proportion to their respective ranks, had assigned to -them costly dresses, vigorous steeds with trappings and saddles inlaid -with precious stones, equipments, some of solid gold and silver, and -others plated with gold or silver, and helmets. The distinguished men -were equally remote from parsimony and profuseness. The nobles of Ajem -wore a crown worth a hundred thousand dinars of gold: the regal diadem -being appropriated to the king. All the great Amirs wore helmets and -zones of gold; they also had trappings and sandals of the same. When -the soldiers set out on an expedition, they took with them arms of -every description, a flag and a poignard;[361] they were habituated to -privations, and entered on long expeditions with scanty supplies: they -were never confined within the enclosure of tents and pavilions, but -braved alike the extremes of heat and cold. In the day of battle, as -long as the king or his lieutenant stood at his post, if any one -turned his back on the foe, no person would join him in eating or -drinking, or contract alliance with him, except those who like himself -had consigned their persons to infamy and degradation. Lunatics, -buffoons, and depraved characters found no access to the king or -chieftains. - -On the death of a person who had been raised to dignity, his post was -conferred on his son, or some one of his legitimate connections -adequate to its duties; thus no innocent person was ever deprived of -office, so that their noble families continued from the time of _Sháî -Kilîv_ to that of _Sháî Mahbul_. When king _Khusró_, the son of -_Faridún_, the son of _Abtin_, the son of _Forzad_, the son of _Shái -Kiliv_, had sent _Gurgin_[362] the son of _Lás_ to a certain post, -that dignity remained in his family more than a thousand years; and -when, in the reign of the resplendent sovereign, king _Ardeshir_, -_Madhur_ the descendant of Gurgin had become a lunatic, the king -confined him to his house, and promoted his son _Mábzád_ to the -government; and similar to this was the system of Shah _Ismail -Safavi_. But if an Amir’s son were unfit for governing, he was -dismissed from office, and had a suitable pension assigned him. Nay, -animals, such as the cow, ass, and horse, which were made to labor -when young, were maintained by their masters in a state of ease when -they grew old; the quantity of burden which each animal was to carry -was defined, and whoever exceeded that limit received due -chastisement. In like manner, when any of the infantry or cavalry grew -feeble, infirm, or old, although he might not have performed effective -service, they appointed his son to succeed him; and if the latter was -not yet of mature age, they settled on him a daily allowance from the -royal treasury. But if he had no son, they assigned him during his -life such an allowance as would keep him from distress, which -allowance was continued after his decease to his wife, daughter, or -other survivors. Whatever constitutes the duty of a parent was all -performed by the king; if, in the day of battle, a soldier’s horse -fell, they bestowed on him a better and finer one. It has already been -said that most of the cavalry horses were supplied by the king, and -the military were at no expense save that of forage. If a soldier fell -in battle, they appointed the son with great distinction to his -father’s post, and also conferred many favors on his surviving family; -they also greatly exerted themselves in teaching them the duties of -their class, and in guarding their domestic honor inviolate: as, in -reality, the king is the father, and the kingdom the common mother. In -like manner, when a soldier was wounded, he received the greatest -attentions. Similar notice was taken of workers in gold and of -merchants who had failed and become impoverished, their children being -adopted by the government: so that, within the circuit of their -dominions, there was not found a single destitute person. The Sardár -of each city took cognizance of every stranger who entered it: in the -same way, all friendless travellers were received into the royal -hospital, where physicians gave themselves up to the curing of the -sick: in these there were also Shudahbands to take care that none of -those employed should be backward in their respective offices. The -blind, the paralytic, the feeble, and destitute were admitted into the -royal hospital, where they passed their time free from anxiety. Now -the royal _Bîmárastán_, or hospital was a place in which they gave a -daily allowance to the feeble and indigent: thus there were no -religious mendicants or beggars in their dominions; whoever wished, -embraced a Durvesh’s life and practised religious austerities in a -monastery, a place adapted for every description of pious -mortifications: a slothful person, or one of ill repute, was not -permitted to become a Durvesh, lest he might do it for the purpose of -indulging in food and sleep: to such a character they enjoined the -religious exercises suitable to a Durvesh, which, if he performed with -zeal, it was all well; but, otherwise, he was obliged to follow his -inclinations in some other place. - -The king had also confidential courtiers, well skilled in the -histories of the righteous men of olden time, which they recited to -his majesty. There was also an abundance of astrologers and -physicians, so that, both in the capital and in the provinces, one of -each, agreeably to the royal order, should attend on every governor; -and their number was such in every city, that men might consult them -on the favorable and unfavorable moments for every undertaking. - -In every city was a royal hospital, in which were stationed physicians -appointed by the king; there were separate hospitals for women, where -they were attended by skilful female physicians, so that the hospitals -for men and women were quite distinct. In addition to all this, the -king stands in need of wise _Farhangs_, “judges,” well versed in the -decisions of law and the articles of faith, so that, aided by the -royal influence and power, they may restrain men from evil deeds, and -deliver the institutes of Farhang, “the true faith,” to them.[363] The -king also requires writers to be always in his presence. A great Mobed -must be acquainted with all sciences; a confidential courtier, -conversant with the narratives and histories of kings; a physician, -profound in medical science; an astrologer in his calculations of the -stars; an accountant, accurate in his accounts; and a _Farhangí_, or -lawyer, well versed in points of law: moreover, the study of that -portion of the code contained in the _Páiman-i-Farhang_, or in the -“covenant of the Farhang,” is incumbent on all, both soldiers, Rayas, -and those who practise the mechanic arts, and on other people. In like -manner, persons of one rank were not wont to intermeddle with the -pursuits of another: for example, that a soldier should engage in -commerce, or a merchant in the military profession: on the contrary, -the two employments should not be confounded, so that one should at -the same time be a military man and a servant, or in any employment; -and having become a commander, should again take up the trade. - -They also permitted in every city such a number of artificers, -conductors of amusements, merchants, and soldiers as was strictly -necessary; to the remainder, or surplus, they assigned agricultural -occupations; so that, although many people may know these arts, yet no -more than is required may be occupied with them, but apply themselves -wholly to the cultivation of the soil. If any officer made even a -trifling addition to the import on any business which brought in a -revenue to the king, so far from its being acceptable, they, on the -contrary, ordered that ill-disposed person to be severely punished. - -The king gave audience every day: but on one day of the week in -particular, he acted as _Dádsitán_, or “Mufti,” when every person who -was wronged had access to the sovereign; also, once a year, he gave a -general audience, when everyone who pleased came into his presence; on -this occasion, the king sat down at table with the Ráyás, who -represented to him, without the intervention of another, whatever they -thought proper. - -The sovereign had two places of audience; one the _Rózistán_, or -“day-station,” in which he was seated on an elevated seat; which place -they also called the _Tábsár_, or “place of splendor;” around which -the nobles and champions stood in their respective ranks; the other -was the _Shabistán_, or “night station,” which had also an elevation, -on which the king took his seat. Men of distinction stood on the -outside; those of royal dignity were at the door; and next the king -was a company standing with weapons of war in their hands. Every one, -indiscriminately, had not the privilege of laying his hand on the -royal feet; some only kissed the slipper and walked around it; others, -the sleeve of the royal mantle which fell on the throne: that person -must be in high favor at court who was permitted to kiss the king’s -feet, or the throne, or perform a circuit around it. - -As a brief account has been given of the exterior place of reception, -and of the _Rózistán_, or “day station,” we now proceed to write a few -particulars concerning the interior place of reception, or the secret -night station, or the _Harem_, which is also called the “golden -musk-perfumed pavilion.” In the code of _Azar Húshang_, or _Máhábád_, -it has been thus laid down: whatever be the number of the king’s -women, there must be one superior in dignity to all the rest: her they -style “the Great Lady;” but she possessed not such absolute power that -the right of loosing or binding, inflicting the bastinado, or putting -to death within the night station should be conferred on her: or that -she could put to death whomsoever she pleased without the king’s -consent, a power quite opposed to law. - -The _Shudahbands_ also report to the royal presence all the -transactions of the Great Princess and of the night station, just as -they transmit accounts of those persons who live out of its precincts. -If the king’s mother be alive, the supremacy is of course vested in -her, and not in the Great Princess. _Salárbárs_, or “ushers with -silver maces,” _Jádárs_, or “superintendants of police,” _Gáhnumás_ or -_Shudahbands_, astrologers and such like professions, were also met -with in the interior residence. - -Of these women and princesses not one had the smallest degree of -authority over the rest of their sex who lived outside of the -precincts, nor did they possess the power of issuing any order -whatever; nay they seldom made mention of them in the royal -_Rozistan_; neither were they called by any fixed title; nor, without -urgent necessity, did they ride out in public. - -The king also, on visiting the interior apartment, is not wont to -remain long with the women; nor do they ever entertain any wishes -which have not reference to themselves; such as the mode of speaking -when enjoining an officer to perform some service, or increasing the -dignity of the great warriors. The same system was followed by every -Amir in his own house; but in the dwelling of every Amir, whether near -or remote, there was an aged matron or _Atuni_, deputed on the king’s -part, with the office of Shudahband, to report the exact state of -affairs to the Great Princess, or to send from a distance a written -report for being brought before the king. - -To the king’s Harem, or to that of an Amir, no males had access, -except boys not come to maturity, or eunuchs; but criminals only were -qualified for the latter class, who were never after admitted to any -confidential intimacy; and no individual in their empire was allowed -from motives of gain to have recourse to that operation.[364] - -Every year, on certain occasions, on some great festivals, the wives -of the Amirs waited on the Great Princess, and the women of the city -came to the general levee; but the king never saw these women, as on -such days he did not enter the musk-perfumed pavilion, but departed to -some other place, so that his eyes might not fall on a strange female. -The motives of the ladies’ visit to the king was this: that if any -were oppressed by their husbands, it might be reported to the king, -who after proper investigation was to enjoin the punishment awarded by -the court of justice. - -The great king partook not of reason-subduing strong drinks, as he was -a guardian, and as such should not be in a state of helplessness; on -which account not one of those kings who were styled guardians ever -polluted his lips with wine or other intoxicating beverage before the -Gilshaiyan dynasty. The cup-bearers of the king’s sons and other -nobles were always females, and these were called _Bádeks_:[365] no -beardless males were admitted to the feast: even eunuchs were excluded -from the banquets of the Gilshaiyan princes, and they were waited on -by beardless youths under ten years of age; and at the time of taking -wine even they were not allowed to be present. The ancients, or those -previous to the Gilshaiyan dynasty, had appointed seasons for drinking -wine, which occurred when the physicians prescribed it for the removal -of some infirmity, on which occasions they conformed to the -above-mentioned rules. If any one, and the king in particular, labored -under a malady the cure of which could only be effected by wine, and -the invalid should be altogether reluctant to the drinking of it, in -that case, as the cure was confined to the use of wine, the patient -was obliged to comply with the prescription: for things forbidden -under other circumstances, become lawful when taken for medicinal -purposes: but with this reservation, that no injury should accrue to -any innoxious animal. - -Along the roads frequented by travellers in this realm, there were -many caravansaries, between every two of which were posted sentinels, -so that the voice of a person reached from one to the next. In every -halting-place was a _Shudahband_, a physician, and a _Tîmárî_; and the -inns were also constructed near each other. Now a _Tîmárî_ is one -appointed by the king to protect the helpless, such as persons of -tender years and the infirm. Aged women brought out from the Haram all -the requisite supplies (for these establishments), which they -transferred to aged men, by whom they were conveyed to the attendants. - -The soldiers’ wives were not without employment, such as spinning, -sewing, and in various works, the making of house-furniture, riding, -and in the management of the bow they were as able as men; they were -all formed by discipline and inured to toil. - -It is evident to all the world that, notwithstanding the extent of -their realms was so exceedingly great and spacious, yet in consequence -of these arrangements, the kings were necessarily informed of every -event which occurred: in addition to what has been stated, pursuant to -decrees influential as those of Heaven, villages were erected at every -stage and halting-place, at each of which the king’s horses were -picketted, and men appointed whom they called _Ravand_, or “couriers.” -When the _Shudahband_ day by day delivered the report of whatever had -occurred into the hand of a courier, the one near the city delivered -it into the custody of another, and so on, from the couriers of the -stage to those of the villages, until the report reached the capital. -The king observed the same system in corresponding with the Umras; at -one time appointing an individual who was with great caution to -communicate the royal despatches without entrusting them into the -hands of another; a courier of this description mounted at every stage -the king’s post-horses which were picketted at the different -halting-places until he completed his object: this description of -courier they call _Nuwand_; the Umras also despatched _Nuwands_ to the -king’s court; but the couriers belonging to royalty or the nobility -were not empowered to seize any individual’s horse, or practise -oppression, as they would in that case meet with due retaliation: -there were besides, at the different villages, persons stationed as -guards, who were liable to be called to account if a traveller -suffered oppressive treatment from any quarter. _Shadahbands_ also -were there. _Azar Húsháng_, that is, _Máhábád_, thus enjoined: “Let -there be no exactions practised towards the Rayas: let him afford what -he well can, and nothing more;” they therefore only took such an -amount as maintained both soldiers and rayas in tranquillity. - -All the king’s devoted servants entertained this belief, that the -performance of whatever was agreeable to the king was attended with -advantage in both worlds; also that the royal command was the -interpretation of the word of God, and that it was highly praiseworthy -to meet death in the path of obedience to the Great King: nay, they -accounted death, with the prospect of royal approbation, which is the -bestower of paradise, as far superior to life; but he must be a king -who acts in conformity with the _Paiman-i-Farhang_, or “excellent -code.” In short, the system of inquiry was such, that the inspectors -used to question the soldiers, whether they were satisfied or not with -their chief. - -With respect to keeping guard, it was thus settled; that out of the -four persons acting in concert with each other, two went to sleep and -the other two stood up armed; again, when the sleepers arose the -others went to rest; and on the expiration of the night, other troops -came to keep watch: the night sentinels, however, did not depart but -by order of their officer. These inspected the men three times during -the night. In that manner each person had, every week, one day’s -watch: and when they retired from keeping guard, proclamation was made -to this purport by the king’s command: “If any have cause of complaint -against their inspector or chief, let them not keep it concealed.” - -In like manner every month the inspectors, whether near or remote, -looked into the state of the military; if they found any individual, -without sufficient cause, deficient in the requisites for service, -they ordered him to be punished, unless he adduced a satisfactory -excuse and testimony; in which case they accepted his reasons: and if -they proceeded from overpowering necessity, they had regard to it. - -To whomsover they had assigned land, _Jaghir_ or _Mukásá_, they gave -daily or monthly pay with the greatest punctuality, never permitting -any deficiency to occur. - -If any were deficient in the performance of duty, for example, being -absent one watch without sufficient cause, besides inflicting the due -punishment, they deducted the pay of that watch, but not of the whole -day. When, for some good reason, he applied for a furlough, he -obtained it. - -The prime minister was obliged to institute an inquiry into any affair -of which he got the necessary information. The _Rais sufid_, -“chieftain,” must produce a Khushnúdí namah, or “a certificate,” -purporting that he had given the due to his people, and that they were -satisfied with him; also that whatever revenue had been received was -delivered over to the inspector, in the presence of the Anim and -Shudahband: the inspectors also produced, in the royal presence, -certificates stating that they had practised no oppression towards the -military: and although the spies made a report of all particulars -every week, still the king inquired besides of the soldiers, as to the -truth of this approbation. - -The Yazdaníans never attempted a thing mentioned with abhorrence in -the Farhang code, in which every fault had its fixed punishment. When -any one was convicted of a crime, the king’s near attendants never -made intercession for him: for example, pursuant to this code, and by -the king’s command, the son inflicted punishment on the father, and -the father on his son, so that even princes of the blood had not the -power of breaking this law; if they were guilty of injustice, the -kings themselves inflicted the allotted punishment: for example, _Jai -Alád_ had a son called _Húdah_, whom he himself beheaded for having -put to death the son of a villager. The king’s devoted servants raised -themselves to distinction by their excellence and exertions to obtain -praise and titles: whoever swore falsely by the royal family was -expelled from all intercourse with them. - -There were peculiar places assigned for the combat of elephants, -lions, and other wild beasts, the backs and sides of which places were -so elevated, that people might behold from every part, without the -possibility of sustaining injury from the elephants and other wild -animals: the king being all the while seated on a lofty throne. They -never created embarrassments in bazars or populous places with furious -elephants or fierce lions, but kept them in remote situations and -secure places such as before-mentioned, from whence they could easily -remove them. It is recorded that, in the time of Shírzád Shah, the -Yassánian, an elephant having broken out of the place where he was -tied up, killed some one; on which the king, in retaliation for the -deed, put the elephant to death, and also inflicted capital punishment -on the elephant-keepers and the door-keepers of the elephant-stables, -who had left the door open. The king never listened to tales of -fiction, but solely to true statements: the military and the rayas -also never averted their necks from executing the king’s commands: and -if a traveller invoked the king’s name and entered into any house, the -inmates not only washed his feet, but even drank the water in which -they performed the operation, as a sovereign remedy, and sedulously -showed all due attentions to their guest. - -On the day of battle, the soldiers were drawn up in right, centre, and -left columns, an arrangement which they never violated in any -engagement: as when once dissolved, the restoration of that combined -order would be impossible: when the troops had been arrayed in this -manner, they gave the enemy battle; and in proportion to the -necessity, the bazar, or “market” of assistance followed them: even -after victory they observed the same arrangement. - -On the day of triumph, when the enemy fled and the foe dispersed, the -entire army did not give themselves up to plunder; but the king -appointed for the service a certain detachment, accompanied by -_Shudahbands_ and _Binandahs_, or inspectors and supervisors, whilst -the rest of the army remained prepared for battle and ready to renew -the engagement; not one of them raising the dust of plunder or -departing to their homes, lest the enemy, on discovering their -dispersion in pursuit of plunder, might return and gain the victory. -When they had made themselves masters of the spoil, the king ordered -them to set apart the choicest portion for the indigent and the -erection of religious foundations: he next distributed an ample share -to the men proportioned to their exertions; after which he gave each -of his courtiers a portion; and he lastly conferred a suitable portion -on the great officers; but no part of this division entered into the -account of the allowances settled on the military class: last of all, -the king drew the pen of approbation over whatever was worthy of the -royal majesty. Some of the ancient kings and all the princes of the -remote ages, far from taking any part of the spoil to their own share, -even made good every injury which happened to the army in executing -the royal orders, as the loss of horses and such like. - -After the victory, they never oppressed the helpless, the indigent, -merchants, travellers, or the generality of the inhabitants, and the -Rayas. Those who were guilty of such acts were, after conviction, -punished. They divided among them whatever the enemy had in their -flight left on the field of battle: but whatever in the different -realms belonged to the conquered prince and his near connexions, they -submitted to the royal pleasure. They never slew or offered violence -to the person who threw down his arms and asked for quarter. - -This class of the obedient followers of the _Azar Hushang_ code were -styled _Farishtah_, “angelic;” _Surúsh_, “seraphic;” _Farishtah -manish_, “angel-hearted;” _Surúsh manish_, “seraph-hearted;” _Sipásí_, -“adorers;” _Sahí dín_, “upright in faith;” and _Zanádil_, “the -benevolent;” opposed to whom are the _Ahriman_, the _Dîvs_, and the -_Tunádil_, or “fierce demons.” - -The Divs are of two kinds; the one class subject to the king of the -angels, who, through fear of that prince, have been compelled to -desist from injuring animated beings; the second kind consists of Dîvs -in the realms of other kings, who break through the covenants of the -law, and slay animals: these in truth are no other than wolves, -tigers, scorpions, and serpents. - -They record that in the time of _Ardeshír_, the son of _Azád_, the son -of _Babegán_, the son of _Nushirván_, there was a Jaiyanian champion -by name _Farhád_, the son of _Alád_, who were both ranked among the -distinguished leaders: Alád, when in a state of intoxication, having -slain a sheep with his sword, his son Farhád, on ascertaining this, -made him pass under the sharp-edged scimitar; the people held him in -detestation, and said: “Thou shouldst have sent thy father to the -king.” He replied, “My father had committed two criminal actions; the -first, in taking so much wine as to lose his senses; the second in -destroying a sheep. Although it would have been proper to send him to -the king, I could not suffer any delay to intervene in punishing his -crimes: at present I confess myself guilty of transgressing the -Abadián code, for not submitting the details of this affair to the -king.” He then ordered himself to be put in chains, and brought in -that state before the king: but his majesty drew the pen of -forgiveness over his crime, and elevated the apex of his dignity. - -Moreover it was necessary to drink wine in a secret place, as they -inflicted due punishment on whoever was found intoxicated in the -public bazar. In truth, permission to drink wine was only given in -cases of malady, as from the time of the very ancient sovereigns of -the Mahabad dynasty, until that of _Yássán Ajam_, no person partook of -wine or strong drinks, except the invalids who were ordered by the -physicians to have recourse to them; and even they partook of them -according to the established rules: but among the ancient kings, _i. -e._ from Kaiomars’ to Yezdagird, they at first indulged secretly in -wine for the purpose of sensual enjoyment, under color of conforming -to medical ordinances. At last matters terminated in this, that wine -was openly produced at the banquets, and the champions in attendance -on the king partook of it; but it was not permitted to be drunk openly -in the bazars or streets. - -The king gave audience every day, being seated on an elevation, that -is a _Tábsár_, or elevated window: in the same manner he took his seat -in the _Roz-Gáh_, which is a place where, on his rising from the -_Tábsár_, he seated himself on a throne: on which occasion the nobles -in attendance were drawn out in their proper gradations: note, that by -giving audience is meant, turning his attention to the concerns of -mankind. Every decree issued by the king from the _rozistán_ or -_shabistán_ of the interior or exterior, was transcribed by the -Shudahband and again submitted to the royal presence, and when its -promulgation was ratified, it was laid before his majesty a second -time. - -Whenever a traveller entered a caravanserai or city, the secretaries -of the place, in the presence of witnesses and notaries, made out a -statement of his wealth and effects, which they gave him; and the same -at the time of sale; so that if he should afterwards declare that his -stock had been diminished or some part had been abstracted, they could -ascertain its value and quantity: there was also a fixed price -assigned to every commodity and article, and also a certain rate of -profit prescribed to each vendor. - -The following was their mode of hunting: the army being drawn out in -array, in right, centre, and left columns, the nobles and eminent -warriors took their several posts according to rank, and during a -period of forty or fifty days formed a circle around both mountains -and plains. If the country abounded in wood, they formed the whole of -it into well secured piles: the king then directed his steps towards -that quarter, and his train by degrees drove in the game, keeping up a -strict watch that no beast of prey should escape out of the circle: on -this the king, his sons, and relations dispatched with arrows as many -as they could; after this the king, surrounded by the most -distinguished courtiers, sat on a throne placed on an eminence, formed -of strong timbers so fastened together that no animal could get up -there: the generals, and then the whole of the soldiery charged into -the centre, so that not a trace remained of ferocious animals, that -is, of lions and such noxious creatures: they next counted the numbers -of the slain, and having piled them in one place, formed a hillock of -their carcases. If they discovered a harmless animal amongst the -slain, they ordered vengeance to be inflicted on its destroyer, and -cast his body among those of the ferocious animals. - -They record that in the reign of Yássán, the son of Sháh Mahbúl, an -elk had been slain by some tyrannically-inclined person, on beholding -which the father of the insane criminal, with the ruthless sword, -immediately dissevered his son’s head from his shoulders. Also in the -reign of Núshirvan, the fortunate descendant from the _Sháíyán_ -dynasty, at one time whilst in the pursuit of game, an arrow shot -intentionally from the bow of a noble champion named _Fartúsh_, -wounded a deer so that it fell dead: his son, _Ayín Túsh_, was -perfectly horror-struck, and in retaliation with an arrow pinned his -father’s body to that of the slaughtered deer; so that, in future, -there should be no infringement of the Farhang law. - -As soon as a lofty mound had been formed of slaughtered noxious -creatures, which either walk, fly, or graze, then by the king’s -command a Mobid ascended the eminence and said: “Such is the -recompense of all who slay harmless creatures; such the retribution -which awaits the destroyers of animals free from crimes.” He then said -to the harmless creatures: “The equitable king of kings, in order to -destroy the noxious animals which cause you so many calamities, has -come forward in his own precious person, and taken vengeance for the -misdeeds of these wicked creatures: now depart in peace; behold the -vengeance inflicted on your sanguinary foes; and commit no sin before -the protector of your species.” They then left a road open for the -innoxious animals to escape and hasten to their mountains and deserts. -This kind of hunting they called _Shikár-i-dád_ or _Dád-shikár_; i. -e.: “the hunt of equity,” or “the equity-hunt.” The royal governors -also in their respective provinces adopted a chase of the like -description. Whenever the sovereign was of such a character as not to -deviate from the Farhang code, if any person declined rendering -allegiance to the prince chosen by him for his successor, that person -was immediately destroyed by the people. - -In the reign of _Sháh Gilív_, a champion having beheld in a vision, -that the king had raised to the throne one of the princes who met not -his approbation, immediately on awaking put himself to death. Sháh -Gilív, on hearing this, said to the son of the deceased: “When a -person is awake, rebellion is to be abhorred; but not in a state of -sleep, as it is then involuntary.” - -Also in the reign of _Bahman_, the son of Isfendiar, the son of -_Ardashír_, the son of _Azad Shai_,[366] one of the generals, _Bahram_ -by name, governor of Khorasan, having made arrangements for revolt and -rebellion, the soldiers on learning his designs put him to death, and -offering up his flesh after the manner of the Moslem sacrifice, -divided it and ate of it, saying, “He is a noxious animal.” - -In the same reign, a champion, by name _Gilshásp_, saw in a trance -that he had rebelled against Bahman: on relating the dream to his -soldiers, they for answer drew forth their swords and shed his blood, -saying: “Although there is no blame to be attached to the vision, yet -he is the genius of evil for publishing it abroad.” - -_Ayín Shakíb_, a Móbed, who saw in a vision that he was uttering -imprecations against _Ardíshír_, the son of _Babagán_, the son of -_Azád_ the Jaiyánían, immediately on awaking cut out his tongue: such -was their devotedness to their kings. - -They moreover say, in the case of every prince who was adorned with -sound doctrine, good works, and noble descent; who promoted the -interests of the military and the happiness of the Ráyás, and who -never deviated from the covenant of the law; that when any one proved -refractory to his commands, that person’s life and property were -confiscated with justice. The kings made trials of their sons’ -capacities, and conferred the royal dignity on whichever was found the -most deserving; not making the one king whom they regarded with the -greatest natural affection. They also said: “Sovereign power becomes -not the monarch who transgresses this blessed law; neither should any -prince give way to the disposition to deviate in the slightest degree -from any of its covenants, lest from their esteeming one branch of the -law as of no importance, they might regard the whole as of trifling -obligation.” The adorable and almighty God so gave his aid to these -praise-worthy sovereigns that they decked the bride of dominion with -the ornaments of equity, benevolence, and impartial justice. -Merchants, travellers, and scholars moved about in perfect security; -during their reigns there existed no annoyance from the payment of -tolls, customs, and other exactions; and in the caravanserais was -neither rent nor hire. - -The kings had the covenants of the law transcribed, which they always -kept near them, and had read over to them daily by some confidential -courtier: on great festivals they were communicated to the military -and the rayas, with strong injunctions to store them up in their -recollection. The Umras also pursued the same system, and recited the -law to their dependants. In like manner, the princesses of the -_Shabistán_, “night-apartment,” observed the same rule. - -They moreover say that every prince who, through the suggestions of -his own mind or of his minister’s, adopted any measures except in -conformity to this law, bitterly repented of it.――_Jai Alad_ has said: -“Whoever in the king’s presence utters a word contrary to the -covenants of the law, or persuades him to do so; the king may rest -assured that the object of that person is to throw the kingdom into -confusion.” - -When the Yezdáníán princes and rulers gave audience, there lay before -them a book, a scourge, and a sword; the book contained the covenants -of the law; and every affair which was submitted to them being -considered according to the view taken of it in the book, they then -gave a decision. - -In the royal dynasty which preceded the Gilsháíán kings, there was no -violation whatever of this code; but under later princes some disorder -crept into its observance. They also say, that whenever they violated -the commands, decrees, maxims, rules, and decisions of this covenant, -they became associated with regret and repentance. Whenever a -sovereign sustained any injury, it arose principally from inattention -to this standard; and whenever a monarch lived in prosperity, it -proceeded from his scrupulous observance of the most minute details of -this code. The ancient sovereigns, that is, the _Abádíán_, the -_Jaiyán_, the _Shaiyán_ and the _Yassánían_, who are the most renowned -of kings, never lost sight of the Farhang Abád, that is, they did -every thing according to its dictates: this code they also called -_Hirbud Sár_, or “sacerdotal purity.” During this period no enemy -arose, and no foe obtained the supremacy; the military and the rayas -enjoyed undisturbed repose. Amongst the _Gilsháíyán_ kings, _Hushang_, -_Tahmúras_, _Faridun_, _Minuchahar_, _Kaikobád_, _Kaikhusró_, -_Lohorasp_, _Bahman_, _Ardashir Babágán_, and the others, had this -code transcribed in secret characters, which they employed as mental -amulets and spiritual charms. _Náshirván_ also, having procured a -transcript of this law, kept it by him. Although all the sovereigns -conformed to this rule, yet none observed it in so high a degree as -the ancient sovereigns of the _Abádíán_, _Jaiyán_, _Shaiyán_, and -_Yassáníán_ dynasties: as in the belief held by the _Yazdanians_, or -“theists,” their dignity so far transcends that of the Gilsháíyáns, -that we can institute no comparison between them. The Gilsháíyán -princes also exerted themselves to prevent the slaughter of harmless -animals; although the people did not pay the same respect to their -orders as to those of the ancient sovereigns, yet, as compared with -their successors, people were more exact in the performance of duty -than in later periods. - -They say that _Rustam_,[367] the son of _Zaul_, at the moment of -abandoning the robes of mortality, having heaved a deep sigh, the king -of Kabúl said to him: “O Rustam! art thou alarmed at death?” the hero -replied: “God forbid! for the death of the body is to the spirit the -bestowing of life; and the issuing forth under the sphere is the being -born from the maternal womb; when the cloud of the body is removed, -the sun of spirit shines more resplendently: but my grief proceeded -from this reflection, that when Kaús commanded Tús to put me to the -ignominious death of the gibbet,[368] I refused to submit to the -punishment. Although Kaús, in violation of the Farhang code, had -passed a sentence opposed to the decisions of Mahabád, and even the -interests of Kaús were ultimately advanced by my rebellious conduct, I -am at present afflicted on that account, lest, perhaps, any thing -opposed to the Farhang code may have proceeded from me. In like manner -Isfendiar was slain by my hand,[369] and I refused to be put in -chains; although it became him not to exact compliance, nor was it in -accordance with the Farhang code.” Dastan (Zaul) also lived in regret, -saying: “Why did I utter a word in opposition to Kai Khusran, on the -day when he chose Lohorasp as his successor, although my sentiments -were expressed by way of counsel?”[370] When Bahman, the son of -Isfendiar, made preparations for laying waste Sistan, notwithstanding -the people urged Dastan to give the invaders battle, he approved not -of it, but said: “Never more will I break through the Farhang code.” -He then came on foot into the presence of Bahman, by whose orders he -was thrown into chains: but he finally attained the king’s unbounded -esteem, and was released; whilst his son Faramarz, contrary to the -Farhang code, gave the king battle, and, being taken prisoner, -suffered the ignominious death of the gibbet:[371] his son was also -put to death on the same account. The implicit obedience of the son -_Minufarad_ to Kobad,[372] the father of Nushirvan, is also well -known; although that prince was not strictly entitled to obedience -according to the Farhang covenant, yet the devotedness of his subjects -is highly celebrated. - - - [350] Buzurg-Mihr was the celebrated minister of Nushirvan - (see note, p. 104). - - [351] Azad Bahman is called by the Sipasian (see p. 6) the - precious jewel of the intellectual principle. In the - Zand-books and in the Bun-Dehesh, he is invoked as created - by Ormuzd, and as one who is to conduct the heavens; he - presides over the eleventh month of the year and the second - day of the month; he is the king of the luminous world; the - other angels repose under his guard; he is the principle of - the intelligence of the ear, given by Ormuzd; the father of - the purity of the heart; the Ized of peace who watches over - the people; he aids in the distribution of the waters, and - in the production of herds and other riches; it is he who - receives the souls of the just at their entrance into - heaven, congratulates them on their happy arrival, and - clothes them with robes of gold.――_Zend-Avesta_, I, pp. 81, - 134, 416, 418; II, pp. 75, 100, 144, 152, 316, and - elsewhere. According to the Desátir (English transl. p. 63) - Bahman is the first of the numberless created angels.――A. T. - - [352] Vakhshúr signifies “prophet” in the old Persian - language. According to the Desátir (edit. of Bombay, English - transl., p. 79), _Sadvakhshúr_ is an epithet of Hoshang, - signifying “one hundred prophets.” by a mistake ascribed, as - well as the work _Javidan Khirid_, to Jemshid, in my note, - pp. 31 and 32.――A. T. - - [353] The manuscripts read نيالاد, the manuscript of Oude - reads: تلبہ لا; neither word is found in any dictionary. - - [354] The manuscripts read پرده, which appears the best - reading; the manuscript of Oude has, like the edit. of - Calcutta, برده. - - [355] The manuscripts, with that of Oude, read ماه, the - edition of Calcutta, باد. - - [356] It is not decided whether “Azizi” here and elsewhere - is a proper name, or the attribute of a person. - - [357] “Arshiya”――the manuscripts read “Arsmai;” the - manuscript of Oude has از سمای. - - [358] Jenghis Khan, “the king of kings,” was the name - assumed by Temuz Khin, a Moghul, when he had succeeded in - uniting under his own and sole domination the various tribes - of the Turks. He was born in the year 1162 and died in 1228 - of our era. His history is sufficiently known and belongs - not to this place.――A. T. - - [359] Kazl-básh signifies in the Turkish language “red - head,” a name given by the Turks to the Persians, since they - began to wear a cap of that colour enveloped by a turban - with twelve folds in honour of the twelve Imams. This - happened in the year 1501, under the reign of their king - Ismáil Sûfi, already mentioned, note 6, pp. 52, 53.――A. T. - - [360] Intending to put an end to the march. - - [361] درفش و سوزن signify also a bodkin and a needle. - - [362] Gurgin, in the Shahnamah, is called the son of Mélad, - and was one of the principal chieftains under the reign of - Khusro. Gurgin’s character does not figure advantageously in - the history of Pézshen and Munizshá, one of the most - interesting episodes of Ferdusi’s historical poem.――A. T. - - [363] The manuscript translation of D. Shea reads in this - place: “These officers are called _Sámór_, or the _Char Ayín - Farangi_, “the four institutes of law:” which words are not - in the printed edition of Calcutta, but are probably in the - two manuscripts which he had before his eyes.――A. T. - - [364] It cannot be denied that the Persians, in very remote - times, practised castration, and especially upon youths - distinguished by their beauty (Herod. lib. VI). They are - even accused of having been the first among whom this - infamous practice and the name of eunuchs originated (Steph. - de urbibus. Donat. in Eunuchum, act. I, scen. 2). Ammian. - Marcell. (lib. XIV) attributes it, however, to Semiramis. - (See upon this subject Brissonius, de Regio Persarum - principatu, p. 294, 295.) The passage in the text permits us - to believe that this cruel operation was a dishonouring - punishment, generally abhorred, and particularly restricted - by severe laws among the Persians.――A. T. - - [365] It may be recollected that the interior service in the - palace of an Indian king was of old always performed by - females.――A. T. - - [366] Bahman, son of Isfendiar and successor of Gustasp, is - also named Kái Ardashír, diraz-dost and identified with the - Artaxerxes μακροχειρ (longimanus) of the Greeks. He is - placed 505 years before our era. He reigned 112 years, - according to the Shah-namah.――A. T. - - [367] Rustam, who in the Shah-namah, during a period of six - centuries, appears rather a generic name, or a representative - of the Medo-Persian heroism than a particular individual, - Rustam is reckoned the fifth of the ten Persian philosophers - enumerated in our note, page 112. Hence Rustam’s - philosophical reflexions. In general, we see frequently in - the Persian historical accounts the characters of kings, - heroes, ascetics, and philosophers confusedly blended in the - same persons.――A. T. - - [368] At the time that a great army of Turanians commanded - by Sohrab overrun Persia, Rustam, the ruler of Sistan, was - summoned by Káús, his liege, to repulse the invaders. - Rustam, although willing to obey, having spent some days in - feasting, appeared later than his sovereign expected, who, - in a fit of rage, after having severely rebuked him for his - tardiness, condemned him to an ignominious death. Gív, one - of the principal chiefs, and friend of Rustam, was charged - with the execution, but, refusing to do what he felt - impossible, he was sentenced to share the fate of the great - hero, and Tus, a chief mentioned in the text, received the - order to execute the mandate upon both. A reconciliation - however took place between the king and his powerful - vassals, whose united efforts were required against the - Turanians. It was in the course of this war that Rustam slew - his son Sohrab, without knowing him, and without supposing - him at the head of the Turanian army: this is the subject of - one of the most celebrated episodes of Ferdusi’s - Shah-namah.――A. T. - - [369] Isfendiar, the son of Gushtasp, several times - mentioned in the course of this work, adopted, like his - father, and zealously propagated, Zoroaster’s religion, - which caused a new war between the Persians and Turanians. - Arjasp, the sovereign of Túr, having invaded Persia, - Isfendiar was called to the assistance of his father, who - promised the throne to him if he repulsed the invaders; but, - delivered from danger by his son’s successful exertions, - Gushtasp, unwilling to fulfil his promise, readily listened - to suggestions about the treacherous designs of Isfendiar - whom he emprisoned. Arjasp, profiting by this event, marched - to Balkh, killed Lohrasp, the father of Gushtasp, carried - off the two daughters of the latter, whom he defeated in a - battle and pent up in a fortress. Isfendiar, called out from - his prison, routed the Turanian army and released his - father. Moreover, he rescued his two sisters (one of whom - was his wife) from captivity, by taking the strong residence - of Arjasp, whom he killed with his own hand. He was not even - then to enjoy the well-deserved reward, but charged with the - most perilous expedition to bring Rustam in chains before - the throne of his discontented liege. In vain did the hero - just mentioned proffer his willingness to submit to any - terms of submission except that of being enchained; nothing - less than this was insisted upon: a combat became necessary, - in which Isfendiar reduced his great antagonist to have - recourse to the miraculous aid of Simurgh (see note, p. 55); - by this alone Rustam was enabled to kill Isfendiar in a - renewed combat.――A. T. - - [370] Káí Khusró, after a glorious reign of sixty years, - resolved to resign the crown. He assembled in a plain all - his chiefs and the people of Iran. After a magnificent - festival of seven days, he proclaimed his final determination; - divided the empire among several chiefs, and appointed - Lohrasp the successor of his sovereignty. This choice met - with some opposition on the part of the aged Zaul (see - Rauzat-us-Safa, Shea’s transl., p. 263), and although this - chief yielded to the sovereign will, yet he never paid - homage to the new king; and a pernicious misunderstanding - remained between the descendants of both parties. It may be - remarked that Káí Khusró’s abdication is quite Indian. - According to Ferdúsi, it was towards the mountains of India, - called Amajal, that Káí Khusró bent his steps, accompanied - by a number of his chiefs, the most ancient of whom he soon - dismissed, whilst others followed him further, although - warned by him of an impending storm of snow which was to - bury them all. He suddenly disappeared, and they were never - heard of. This reminds of more than one similar event in - Indian history.――A. T. - - [371] This account agrees with the Shah-namah, according to - which Bahman, in order to revenge the death of his father - (see note last but one), invaded Sistan and took Zaul with - all his treasures. It was then that Farámars, the son of - Rustam, encountered the Persians in a battle: he was - defeated, taken prisoner, and hanged. According to the - Rauzat-us-Safa (see Shea’s transl., p. 340), Bahman, on - reaching Zabulistan, heard of Rustam’s death; his son - Farámans fell, and Zaul was taken prisoner.――A. T. - - [372] Kobad, the Cabades or Cavades of the Greeks, the - eighteenth king of the Sassanians, ruled 43 years in Persia - from 488 to 531, A. D., not ingloriously within and without - his empire, from which he was however driven on account of - the support which he gave to the new and dangerous doctrine - of the prophet Mazdak, about whom see section XV of this - chapter. Kobad recovered the throne by the assistance of the - Tartar prince Hestial (see Ferdusi’s Shah-namah), or (see - Herbelot) by that of the nations, called Haïathelah, who - inhabit the countries of Kandahar, Thibet, and - Barantolah.――A. T. - - - - -THE FOURTH SECTION OF THE DABISTAN contains an account of the -Jamshaspian sect. The _Yekanah-binan_, “seers of unity,” also called -the Jamshaí, who form another great body of the Parsees, are the -followers of _Jamshasp_, the son of _Jemshid_, the son of _Tahmúras_: -in their speech there is much that is enigmatical, and endless -subtilty. Jamshasp never invited any one to follow his tenets, but he -was of such exemplary life and so great a sage, that the people bore -him great affection, and wrote down his sayings, until by degrees -great numbers voluntarily adopted them as articles of faith. According -to them, the world has no external existence; they hold that whatever -exists is God, and that naught exists besides him: a holy man has said: - - “Every eye which is directed to the primitive nature, - Unless tinged with the collyrium of divine light, - Whatever it beholds in the world, except thy face, - Is but the second image of distorted vision.” - -They hold that all the intelligences, souls, angels, heavens, stars, -elements, the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms exist within his -knowledge, and are not external to it: which sentiment king Jamshid -explained to Abtin, saying: “Know, O Abtin, that the Almighty -conceived in idea the first intelligence; in like manner the first -intelligence conceived three objects, namely, the second intelligence, -the soul of the upper sphere, and the body of the same heaven: in like -manner, the second intelligence conceived three objects, and so on in -succession to the elements and their combinations: and this is exactly -as when we form an idea of a city, with its palaces, gardens, and -inhabitants, which in reality have no existence external to our -imagination; so that, consequently, the existence of this world is of -the same description.” The Abadian regard these sayings as -enigmatical, although Jamshid composed many philosophical works, which -the Yekanah Binan admit without any commentary: many of the Parsees -adopt this creed, and particularly the ascetics of that class. The -belief of these sectaries is illustrated by the following tetrastich -from Subahani: - - “The sophist, who has no knowledge of intellect, - Asserts that this world is altogether an optical illusion, - In truth, the world is an illusion; however, - Certainty is for ever displaying her effulgence there.” - -On this subject they have composed various works, the most celebrated -of which is, the “Testament of Jamshid addressed to Abtin,” compiled -by _Farhang Dostoor_. _Shídah_, _Suhráb_, _Mízan_, and _Jamshásp_, -who, under the profession of mercantile pursuits, travelled along with -_Shídósh_, the son of _Anósh_, were of the Yekanah Binan sect. - - - - -THE FIFTH SECTION OF THE DABISTAN describes the Samrádián sect.――In -common language Samrád means imagination and thought; and the sects -thus named are of many descriptions; the first is that of the -followers of _Fartósh_, who lived about the commencement of the -Serpent-shouldered _Zohak_’s reign: _Fartósh_ followed mercantile -pursuits, and his faith was as follows: this elemental world is merely -idea; the remainder, the heavens, the stars, and the simple -uncompounded beings actually exist. The holders of this opinion are -called the _Fartoshíán_. - -The second are the _Farshídíyah_, so called from _Farshíd_, the son of -_Fartósh_: he asserted that the heavens and the stars are also ideal, -and that the simple uncompounded beings only have actual existence. - -The next are the _Farírajíyah_, so called from _Faríraj_, the son of -_Farshid_: his opinion was that the simple uncompounded beings, that -is, intelligences and souls, also have no existence, which is the -attribute of the necessarily self-existent God alone, and that all -besides is ideal, appearing only to exist in consequence of the -essence of that sole existence. - -The next are the _Faramandíyah_, thus named from _Faramand_, the -disciple of _Faríraj_: he says, if any person exists, that person -knows that the elements, heavens, stars, intelligences, and souls are -the Almighty; and what people call the necessarily self-existent God -has no being, although we, through imagination (idea), suppose him to -exist; which he certainly does not. According to the testimony of the -sage _Amr Khaiam_: - - “The Creator in this aged world is as a vase, - Which is internally water and externally ice; - Resign to children this trifling about infidelity and faith; - Remove from the place where God is only a letter.” - -They said to him: “How dost thou prove this idea?” he answered: - - “By means of the solar light we can see: but where is the sun?” - -Thus, according to them, the Almighty is only an idea of the -imagination: the people of this sect are now mixed up with the -Moslems, and go about in the garb of the faithful: according to them a -person named _Kámkár_, one of the ascetics of this sect, who lived in -the reign of sultan _Mahmud of Ghiznah_,[373] composed a poetical -treatise, and compiled narratives, proofs, and revelations conformable -to his tenets; assigning to his faith a superiority over all other -systems, after this manner: that, whatever devout persons have -recorded in their respective creeds concerning the existence of God, -the greatness of the empyreal sphere, the extent of the angelic world, -or concerning paradise, hell, the bridge of judgment, the resurrection -of the dead, the interrogatory and reply,[374] the appearing before -God, the rejection of tradition, eternity, and the creation of the -world, is all correct in this creed; as all becomes evident to the -idea of their professor through the existence of idea; with respect to -which they thus express themselves: “by means of idea, they behold the -ideal.” In proof of his system, he farther says: “Self cannot be -ignorant of self.” But in truth they are ignorant of their own -identity, and understand not in what “self” consists: some of them -maintain, that the being called man and endowed with voice and speech, -is an incorporeal essence joined to the body; the relations of thought -and action resulting merely from its entrance or descent into body: -notwithstanding this principle, they differ greatly among themselves -respecting the eternity and creation of their own souls. In like -manner, some have also denied the simple uncompoundedness of the -intellectual soul, and have spoken largely against that doctrine; -consequently, as they are unacquainted with their own identity, what -can they know about the heavens, stars, intelligences, and God? and it -becomes not that one should know nothing about himself, but that he -exists not. Kámkár, in his treatise, has collected many amusing -anecdotes respecting the Samrádián sect, of which the following is an -instance: a Samradian once said to his steward: “The world and its -inhabitants have no actual existence; they merely have an ideal -being.” The servant, on hearing this, took the first favorable -opportunity to conceal his master’s horse, and when he was about to -ride, brought him an ass with the horse’s saddle. When the Samrádián -asked, “Where is the horse?” the servant replied, “Thou hast been -thinking of an idea: there was no horse in being.” The master -answered, “It is true:” he then mounted the ass, and having rode for -some time, he suddenly dismounted, and taking the saddle off the ass’s -back, placed it on the servant’s, drawing the girths on tightly; and -having forced the bridle into his mouth, he mounted him and flogged -him along vigorously. The servant, in piteous accents, having -exclaimed: “What is the meaning of this conduct?” the Samrádián -replied: “There is no such thing as a whip; it is merely ideal; thou -art only thinking of some illusion:” after which the steward repented -and restored the horse. - -In another tale it is recorded that a Samrádián, having obtained in -marriage the daughter of a wealthy lawyer, she, on finding out her -husband’s creed, proposed to have some amusement at his expense. One -day the Samradian brought in a bottle of pure wine, which during his -absence she emptied of its contents and filled it up with water; when -the time for taking wine came round, she poured out water instead of -wine into a gold cup which was her own property. The Samrádián having -observed, “Thou hast given me water instead of wine,” she answered, -“It is only ideal; there was no wine in existence.” The husband then -said: “Thou hast spoken well; present me the cup, that I may go to a -neighbour’s house and bring it back full of wine.” He therefore took -out the gold cup, which he sold, and concealing the money, instead of -the gold vase brought back an earthen vessel full of wine. The wife, -on seeing this, said, “What hast thou done with the golden cup?” he -replied, “Thou art surely thinking about some ideal golden cup:” on -which the woman greatly regretted her witticism. - -As to those sectaries who assert that the world exists only in idea, -the author of this work saw several in Lahore, in the year of the -Hejirah 1048, A. D. 1637. The first was _Kám Jóí_, who composed the -following distichs on _Faríraj_: - - “Thou knowest that every thing is ideal, - If the Almighty has given thee illumination! - The mention even of ideality proceeds from idea; - The very idea itself is nothing more than ideal.” - -It is to be noted that _Samrád_ and _Samwád_ are applied to fancy or -idea. _Ismail Sufi_, of _Ardistan_[375] has poetically expressed -himself to the same purport in what is styled the mixed Persian: - - “I am about to mention something although remote from reason; - Listen carefully: but if not, mercy still awaits thee: - This world is ideal; and ideality itself is but idea: - This existence which I call ideal, that likewise is idea.” - -The second person treated of in the Samrad Namah of Kámkár was _Nék -Khoy_; the third was _Shád Késh_; and the fourth, _Máhyár_: they were -all engaged in commercial pursuits, and styled Moslem or true -believers. - - - [373] Mahmud, the son of Sebekteghin, was the first monarch - of the dynasty of Ghiznah, the foundation of which had been - laid by his father. During a reign of 33 years (from 997 to - 1030, A. D.) he made twelve expeditions to India, and - established his domination in the western part of this - country, out of which he possessed a still greater empire, - which to the north-west extended over the whole of Persia, - and was limited on the north-east by the river Oxus.――A. T. - - [374] See about it hereafter the sixth chapter, which treats - of the religion of the Musulmans. - - [375] Upon Ismail Sofi, see note p. 52, 53. Ardistan or - Ardastan is a town of the province called Icbal, or Persian - Irak, 36 leagues distant from Ispahan.――A. T. - - - - -THE SIXTH SECTION OF THE DABISTAN describes the tenets of the -_Khodaiyan_.――This sect are followers of _Khodádád_, a Mobed, who -lived during the decline of Jemshid’s power and the usurpation of -Zohak. Khodádád held intelligences and souls to be simple uncompounded -beings, and the stars and heavens to be the companions of God; each of -which, in proportion to its proximity to the Almighty beyond other -created beings, is so much more elevated in dignity: notwithstanding -which we are not to account any being, whether the simple uncompounded -or material, as a mediator or promoter between us and God; neither is -there any occasion for prophets, because through the medium of -reliance, the seeking out of God is attained, and we are to serve God -alone. Among those who held these opinions in Lahore, in the year of -the Hejirah 1049 (A. D. 1639) were seen _Kamus_ and _Fartúsh_, both -merchants. - - - - -THE SEVENTH SECTION OF THE DABISTAN describes the system of the -Rádíán.――The chief of this sect was _Rád Gúnah_, one of the eminently -brave, a lion-like hero, who, to beneficent acts and abstinence from -cruelty to animals, joined the dignity of knowledge; he enjoyed -distinguished honor and rank about the end of Jamshíd’s reign and the -commencement of Zohák’s usurpation: his opinion is, that God is the -same as the sun, whose bounty extends to all beings; and that the -fourth heaven, by reason of its constituting the true centre of the -seven heavens, is the seat of his glory and as his essence is pure -good, his place must also be regarded as a proof of his goodness: -besides this, his grace extends alike to all bodies, whether superior -or inferior: moreover, as the heart, which is the sovereign of the -body, is settled in the midst of the breast, such is also the rule and -custom observed by renowned princes to fix the seat of government in -the centre of their realms, so that their bounty as well as severity -may be equally extended over the whole community; and, by such a -measure, the repose of the people and the due regulations of the Rayas -may be promoted. He asserted that the spirit of the heavens, the -stars, and the three kingdoms of nature proceed from the solar spirit, -and that their bodies return to the light of his body; that is, the -virtuous return to him or some of the stars approximating to his -glory, whilst sinners remain in the elemental world. He at first -communicated these opinions secretly to his friends, but promulgated -them fearlessly during the reign of Zohák. In the year of the Hejirah -1052 (A. D. 1642), the author, whilst journeying from Panjab to Kabul, -met at the station of _Ráwal Bundí_ two persons of this creed, and -whose names were _Hormuzd_ and _Tírah Késh_, who were skilled in all -arts, abstinent, and remote from hurting any living being. - - - - -THE EIGHTH SECTION OF THE DABISTAN treats of the _Shídrangíán_ -creed.――_Shídrang_, a champion of Iran, who in battle was regarded as -the acknowledged chief of the marshallers of armies, and joined -profound knowledge in science to bravery in the field, always turned -away most studiously from doing injury to the creatures of God. He -appeared about the middle of Zohák’s reign, and soothed the serpents -between the usurper’s shoulders. Shídrang unceasingly invited the -people to adopt his faith, and had many followers: he maintained that -_Khoy_ and _Manish_, “disposition and constitution” or nature, to be -God; according to his system, the state of man and other animals -resembles that of herbage, which, when scattered about or dissolved, -grows up again. A merchant, named _Píl Ázár_, who belonged to this -sect, was met by the author in Kashmir in the year of the Hejirah 1040 -(A. D. 1631). - - - - -THE NINTH SECTION explains the _Paikárián_ creed.――_Paikár_ was a -virtuous sage from Iran, who appeared about the middle of Zohák’s -reign. He thus addressed his disciples: “The Almighty is the same as -fire, from the effulgence of which stars have been formed, and the -heavens from its smoke; as fire is both hot and dry, from its heat -proceeded the air, which is hot and humid; and from the humidity of -the air came water, which is cold and humid; also from the coldness of -water proceeded the earth, which is cold and dry; and from these -conjointly came the compound productions, both perfect and imperfect.” -Two individuals of this sect, _Paikár Pazhuh_ and _Jahan Navard_, who -were unequalled in drawing out astronomical tables, painting, and -inlaying, were met by the writer in the year 1059 (A. D. 1649) in -Gujarát, in the district of Panjab. - - - - -THE TENTH SECTION OF THE DABISTAN explains the _Míláníán_ -system.――_Mílán_ was one of the brave champions of Iran and -contemporary with Paikár; he exhorted many people to adopt his faith, -which was as follows: “The air is the truly self-existent God, as it -is both hot and humid; from its heat proceeded fire, and from its -humidity, water; from the effulgence of fire came forth the stars; -from its smoke the heavens (as before mentioned); and from the -frigidity of water proceeded the earth.”[376] One of this sect was -_Rohám_, who passed under the designation of a draughtsman; he was in -truth a painter possessed of European skill; the hand of Bahzad[377] -and the finger of Mani,[378] who never remained long in one place. In -the year of the Hejirah 1040 (A. D. 1630) the author beheld him in -Kashmir, in the house of _Shídosh_. - - - [376] Vitruvius (who lived shortly before J. C.) says (I. - iv. Præf.): Thales Milesius omnium rerum principium Aquam - est professus, Heraclitus Ignem, Magorum sacerdotes, Aquam - et Ignem. As to the earth proceeding from the frigidity of - water, we read in Macrobius (In Somno Scip. I. 1) what - follows: “Terra est sicca et frigida: aqua vero frigida et - humecta est; hæc duo elementa, licet sibi et per siccum - humectumque contraria sint, per frigidum tamen commune - junguntur.”――A. T. - - [377] Bahzad was a celebrated painter. - - [378] In the Desátír (English transl., pp. 188, 1889) it is - stated that Mani came into Iran during the reign of - Ardeshir, and made himself notorious by curious paintings - and a new doctrine which he exhibited: he permitted the - killing of harmless animals, and forbade all intercourse - with women. After a controversy upon these two points with - the king Shapur, he was driven out of the court, and then - lapidated and torn to pieces by the people of the town. - According to Sharistani, Mani was the son of Fáten or Fater; - according to Mohammed Ben Ishak, his father was Fettak Ben - Ebi Berdsâm. He was born about the year 240 of our era, but - his birthplace is differently stated to have been in Persia, - in Babylonia, in Nishapúr, in Khorossan. He is reputed as a - learned man, as will be shewn in a subsequent note. He - appeared at the court of king Shápur, the son of Ardeshir - Babegan, but inhabited chiefly Turkistan. As a painter, he - exhibited a set of pictures, called تنگ, _artang_; or رژنگ, - _arzhank_; or ارچنگ مانی, _archang Máni_, which he said he - had brought from heaven, where he pretended to have dwelt, - whilst in reality he was concealed in a cavern during one - year. The baron Hammer Purgstal suggests that the _artang_ - might have been a banner or ensign, upon which astronomical - or cabalistical figures were represented, and which the - Mongols and Buddhists used to call _Máni_ (see Jahrb. der - Lit., for April, May, June, 1840, p. 28). Máni was besides a - skilful musician, and inventor of a musical instrument, - called _âúd_ by the Arabs, _chelys_ by the Greeks. He was - put to death by order of king Bahram, the son of Hormuz, - about the year 278; by some authors his life and death are - placed later.――See about Máni, _Hyde_, pp. 282, 290, and - _Beausobre_, _Histoire critique de Manichée_.――A. T. - - - - -THE ELEVENTH SECTION describes the system of the followers of -_Álár_.――_Alar_ was a native of Iran, celebrated for his extensive -knowledge, who lived in reputation and dignity about the end of -Zohák’s reign, under whose command he distinguished himself in the -erection of forts and other architectural works. His belief was, that -God is the same as water, from the ebullition of which proceeded fire; -from the fire came forth the heavens and the stars (as before stated); -from the humidity of water proceeded the air, and from its frigidity, -the earth. To this sect belonged _Andarímán_, who was well skilled in -the management of the bow, archery, wielding the lance, horsemanship, -and other military accomplishments; he gave instructions in these -sciences to the sons of great men, in which occupation he passed his -life. In the year of the Hejirah 1040 (A. D. 1630) the author met him -in Kashmir at the house of _Shidosh_. To this sect also belonged -_Mílád_, who possessed consummate skill in writing, and was held in -great respect by men of high station: he was in truth unequalled in -the recitation of histories, the narration of stories and romantic -tales. The author enjoyed his society also in Kashmir. - - - - -THE TWELFTH SECTION treats concerning the _Shidabian_ faith.――_Shádíb_ -who lived about the end of _Zohák_’s reign, was an eminent physician -of Iran, held in great estimation by nobles and princes. He maintained -that the self-existent lord is the same with the earth, from the dry -propensity of which was produced fire; and from fire the heavens and -stars, as before mentioned; from its frigidity proceeded water; from -the humidity of which was formed the air; and when the four elements -were mixed together, the three kingdoms of nature were then -manifested. The physician _Mihrán_ was also of this sect. In the year -1018 of the Hejirah (A. D. 1638) the author joined him, and travelled -in his society from Lahore to Kashmir. Among those who held these -tenets was one named _Khákí_, who followed the profession of a -merchant and possessed great wealth: him the author met in Lahore. In -that same year and in the same place, he became acquainted with a -young man named _Shír_, who excelled in writing the Nishki and Taalik -characters, and was one of the chosen followers of _Shídáb_. - - - - -THE THIRTEENTH SECTION describes the system of the _Akhshíyán_ -sect.――The Mobed _Akhshí_ was by origin a Persian, possessed of great -knowledge, and full of kindness towards the creatures of God; he was -contemporary with _Shídáb_, and promulgated his sentiments openly, -inviting all men to embrace his faith: he maintained God to be the -essence of the elements; so that when people say, “God is not -visible,” this implies the elemental essence, which presents no form -to the sight; when they assert the ubiquity of God, they style that -the essence, as he is every where under his fourfold form; their -proposition of all things excepting God being perishable, means that -the elements admit of change, but that their essence remains for ever -in the same state. They hold the sun to be the source of fire and of -the other stars, such as the falling and shooting stars, comets with -tails, etc. One of those sectaries was a person named _Shídáb_, whom -the author met in the costume of a merchant, in Kashmir in the year of -the Hejirah 1040 (A. D. 1631), and from whom he heard what has now -been written, and which was partly recited out of the book of _Akshí_. -The same _Shídáb_, called also _Shams-ud-dîn_, or “the sun of faith,” -composed a treatise entitled _Rázábád_ in proof of his system, which -he demonstrated by texts of the Koran and the traditions. According to -these sectaries, which became known after the _Radiyán_, there is no -resurrection nor return to life but after this manner: the seminal -principle being derived from food, when the body of a living creature -is dissolved, it becomes grass and constitutes the food of some other -animal: as to future rewards and punishments, they enter not into the -faith or practice of this sect: their paradise consists in having fine -raiment, in carousing, riding, sensual enjoyments, and such like -pleasures, which alone they esteem the chief good; torment, according -to them, consists in being separated from such objects: however, the -founders and followers of this faith carefully avoid all kind of -cruelty towards living creatures. - -According to them, intercourse with daughters, sisters, mothers, -maternal aunts, and their children is allowable;[379] as there can -exist no antipathy between the source and what is derived from it: no -degree of relationship in their opinion should be a bar to the -intercourse of the sexes: nay, on the contrary, it is highly to be -commended, as the nearer the degree of consanguinity, the greater will -be the friendship between the parties.[380] They however regard -adultery as highly criminal, unless the husband should willingly -sacrifice his wife’s honor. They in fact maintain that marriage -between any two parties, however nearly related, is perfectly -allowable if the parties agree among themselves. They also regard the -ceremonial ablutions enjoined by the law as absurd and -unnecessary.[381] They also say, that men assume a particular nature -by means of laws and institutions, and on that account regard good as -evil, and evil as good. When they desire to make a sacrificial -offering, they kill some harmless animal and count it not a foul -crime. Nay, some religionists who partake of swine’s flesh, -scrupulously avoid that of cows, and _vice versâ_. Whoever shall -appeal to the intelligence, which is the gift of God, will be -convinced that our discourse is true; that is, all we have narrated -from the fifth chapter to the present. The professors of this belief -are mixed up with the Muhammedans, and travel about under that mask, -assuming the name of true believers, but having a distinct appellation -for their peculiar creed; they are scattered over Iran and Turan, -remote from and averse to the fire-worshippers. - - - [379] According to Philo and to Diogenes Laertius, the - Persians used to marry their mothers and sisters. Alexander - abolished these incestuous marriages (see _Brisson_, p. - 290). We know from Herodotus (I: 111) that Cambyses married - his sister Atossa. According to Strabo, the law permitted - the Magians union with their mothers. Plutarch, in the life - of Artaxerxes, relates that this king took to wife his two - daughters Atossa and Amestris; but his mother Parysatis - (_Pari-dokht_, “daughter of a fairy”), at the very time she - was engaging him to marry the first of his daughters, said - that he must, in doing so, place himself above the laws of - the country. Zoroaster, in the Zand books, recommends but - the marriages between the children of brothers and sisters - as actions deserving heaven. We observe that the author of - the Dabistan speaks here only of a particular sect, the - custom of which might have been attributed to the whole - nation of the Persians, but without sufficient foundation. - This is confirmed by the ancient tradition mentioned by - Agathius (l. 11), who says, that Ninus killed his own mother - Semiramis, because she had proposed to him an unnatural - connection with her. For this same reason, according to the - author just quoted, Artaxerxes is said to have discarded - from him with great indignation his mother Parysatis, - although he did not decline the marriage with his two - daughters.――(See _Hyde_, p. 421.)――A. T. - - [380] The translation of this passage of the original text - is not, and ought not to be, literal, as the author’s - expressions are here such as an European reader would hardly - think suitable to common decency.――A. T. - - [381] The same observation is also applicable to this - passage.――A. T. - - - - -THE FOURTEENTH SECTION of this chapter of the Dabistán treats of the -followers of _Zardúsht_.[382]――_Farzanah Bahram_, the son of -_Farhad_, the Yazdanian, thus relates in the _Sharistan_: The _Behdín_ -sages relate, that the Almighty, on creating the holy spirit of -Zardúsht, attached it to a tree, when he commenced the creation of -contingent beings in the highest starry heavens: this signifies the -primary intellect, which is as a tree, the leaves and fruits of which -are all contingent existences; and their assertion concerning the -spirit of Zardúsht being attached to it, means that his intellectual -soul is a ray of the primary intellect, the perfections of Zardúsht -being also an effulgence proceeding from that same tree. The Mobed -_Sarúsh_, the Yazdánián, relates: “The teachers of the _Behdín_ faith -have thus said: The father of Zardúsht had a cow which went forth -every morning to the pasture: having one day come accidentally to some -trees, the fallen leaves of which had become dried up, she partook of -them, and after that occurrence, never fed on any other provender -except the withered leaves of that grove. Zardúsht’s father partook of -the milk supplied by this cow, and the influence of it being -communicated to his wife Dughduyah, she conceived _Zardúsht_.”[383] -The object of the above narrative is to show, that by eating the green -foliage, the vegetable spirit is afflicted; for which reason the cow -fed only on dry leaves, so that no injury could result to any spirit -whatever: although, in fact, the vegetable spirit is incapable of -receiving either pleasure or pain, it also shows, that unless a cow be -milked, she feels great pain in the udder, whilst, at the time of -milking, no pain ensues from the operation; also, that the Almighty -formed his prophet’s body out of milk, which in its essence implies no -injury to any living creature. This much being premised, _Zaratusht -Bahram_, a Mobed of the religion of Zardusht,[384] says: When the -world had been thrown into confusion by the wicked, and was entirely -at the mercy of the demon, God willed to raise up a prophet of an -exalted dignity, which the family of Faridun was alone worthy of -filling. In those days lived a man, by name _Purshásp_, the son of -_Patirásp_, descended from Faridun;[385] and his wife’s name was -_Doghduyah_, a virtuous matron, who was also of the family of Faridun. -These two persons were selected by the Almighty as the shells for -enclosing the pearl of Zardusht. When five months of Doghduyah’s -pregnancy had elapsed, she one night beheld in a dream her house -enveloped in a dark cloud, which concealed the splendor of the sun and -moon; and from this cloud were raining down the noxious and rapacious -creatures of earth and air; the boldest of these animals having rent -open Doghduyah’s womb, took out the infant, which he held in his -talons, and the other wild beasts gathered around him. Doghduyah in -her alarm wished to cry out, but Zardusht prevented her, saying: “the -just God befriends me; entertain no apprehensions.” She consequently -held her peace. That instant she beheld a shining mountain which -descended from heaven and rent the black cloud asunder; on which the -noxious animals began to fly away. When the mountain approached -nearer, there came forth from it a youth shining all over, bearing in -one hand a luminous branch, and in the other the volume sent by the -just God. He next hurled that volume towards the beasts, on which they -all departed from the house, excepting three; a wolf, a lion, and a -tiger: the youth then smote these with the luminous branch, so that -they were consumed by fire; after this, taking Zardusht, he restored -him to his mother’s belly, and said to her: “Fear not! grieve not! for -God himself is thy son’s guardian: this honored child shall be the -prophet of the just God!” The youth then disappeared, and Doghduyah -awaking, rose up that gloomy night, and hastening to a neighbouring -seer who was skilled in the interpretation of dreams, related her -vision.[386] The interpreter answered: “Through this sun-resembling -child, the world shall be filled with thy fame; depart, and bring -hither the calculation of thy nativity for my inspection.” She -performed his command; and the interpreter on examining it said: -“During three days keep this secret concealed from all; return hither -on the fourth day, and receive the answer to thy demands.” She did so; -and on the fourth day came to the astrologer, who smiled on beholding -her, and having carefully considered the sidereal influences, turned -to the interpretation of the dream, saying: “The night on which thou -beheldest that vision, the unborn child had completed five months and -twenty-three days; on his issuing forth to the couch of existence, his -illustrious name shall be Zardusht; by him shall the enemies of the -faith be destroyed; but they will previously oppose him in battle, and -put in practice every hostile measure; from the evil doers thou shalt -feel much affliction, such as thou didst witness from the wild beasts -of the vision. - - At last victorious and rejoiced in heart thou shalt become, - And through this unborn child feel all a mother’s joy. - -Next thou beheldest a youth descending from the sixth heaven with the -glittering branch of a tree; that was _Farrah-i-Izad_, ‘the splendor -of God,’ the warder of evils from thy son; the written volume in his -hand is the emblem of the prophetic office, by which he is to obtain -the victory over all foes; the three wild beasts which remained behind -are the type of a powerful evil-disposed enemy, who by wiles will -endeavour to destroy Zardusht, but who shall be finally discomfited; -and there shall be a prince to promulgate the faith: through his might -shall Zardusht become sovereign of this world and the next. O -Doghduyah! paradise is the recompense of obedience to Zardusht, and -hell is the reward of those who avert the face from him. Would to -heaven that I could live in the days of his mission, to exhibit my -zeal for his eminent dignity.” Doghduyah then said to the interpreter -and astrologer: “How hast thou found out the circumstance of the exact -period of my pregnancy?” To this he replied: “Through the power of -knowledge of the stars, and the perusal of ancient records, which give -an account of his auspicious existence.” Doghduyah, on her return -home, told this event to _Purshasp_, that he might communicate it to -_Patírasp_; on which both parents joined in praising the Almighty. -Zaradusht, on issuing forth into the abode of existence, laughed aloud -at the moment of his birth,[387] so that the women of the -neighbourhood who were there assembled heard the sound of his laugh, -and even his father, _Purshasp_, - - “Said to himself, he must surely be an emanation of God, - All, with the exception of him, weep on coming into the world.” - -He then gave him the name of Zaratusht,[388] - - “Thus the dream-interpreter’s word was verified.” - -All the women became jealous at the laugh of Zaradusht, and this -wonderful occurrence was spread abroad, until it came to the hearing -of _Darán Sarún_, the king of that region, who gloried in the practice -of magic and the worship of Ahriman. He had information of the -appearance of Zaratusht, and it was known from the historians and -astronomers that he will reveal a better religion and destroy that of -Ahriman. He therefore hastened to the pillow of Zaradusht, and -commanding him to be taken out of the cradle, and putting his hand to -his sword, prepared to cut off the child’s head; but that instant his -hand was dried up, so that he left the house in pain and affliction; -on which all the magicians and worshippers of Ahriman (the only -worship which prevailed at that time) became quite alarmed. The -magicians then formed a mountain of wood, naphtha, and sulphur, and -having set it on fire, threw into the midst of it Zaradusht, whom they -had by force taken from his father, and hastened with this -intelligence to their king: but, through the aid of God, - - “The devouring flame became as water, - In the midst of which slumbered the pearl of Zardusht.” - -On learning this, Zaradusht’s mother hurried to the desert, and taking -her honored son out of the embers, bore him secretly home. After many -days, when the account of his deliverance was published abroad, the -magicians, evil spirits, and demons again bore Zardusht away, and -threw him into a narrow place, a thoroughfare for the passage of oxen, -that he should be exposed to be bruised and trampled under foot. -Through the goodness of God, a powerful cow came in front, and, -standing still, took Zardusht between her fore feet, and drove off -with her horns whatever cow came in that direction: when the whole had -passed, she also went to join them; and Doghduyah, after great search, -having discovered her honored son, took him home: when this -intelligence came to Dúransarún, he commanded them to expose Zardusht -in a far narrower defile through which horses were to pass; but, owing -to divine aid, a mare advanced before the others, and standing at the -child’s head kept a strict watch over him, and Doghduyah, after -encountering great hardship, bore her fortunate offspring home. On -learning this occurrence, Dúransarún ordered persons to repair to the -dens of the ravening wolves, and having slaughtered their cubs, then -expose Zardusht in the same place, in order that the dams out of -revenge might tear him to pieces. At night, when the troop of wolves -returned to their lairs, they beheld their cubs slaughtered and -weltering in blood, and at the same time finding an infant crying out, -they all hurried towards him; the chief wolf and the boldest of them, -having rushed on to devour Zardusht, his mouth became as sewn up: at -this miracle the wolves were altogether alarmed, and seated themselves -like so many nurses around the infant’s head; at the same time there -also came two sheep from the mountain region, which applied their -teats filled with milk to the lips of Zardusht: thus the sheep and the -wolf lay down in one place. With the morning dawn, his mother, after -anxious seeking and searching, came to that frightful place, raised up -the exalted prophet, and having poured out her gratitude to God, -proceeded with exultation to her home.[389] The magicians, on hearing -this miracle, became quite despondent; they assembled to devise some -remedy, and formed a council for the purpose of deliberating, when a -celebrated magician named _Purtarúsh_ and _Parantarúsh_[390] said to -them: “Zardusht is not to be destroyed by your plans, for God -befriends him, and the angel _Far-i-Izad_ ‘the splendor of God,’ is -ever with him. Bahman (who is the same as Jabriîl) has borne Zardusht -to the presence of the Almighty; and God having imparted to him the -knowledge of all the secrets of existence, sends him forth as a -prophet. A just sovereign will co-operate with him in promulgating his -faith, and every vestige of enchanters and Deeves shall be cut off -from the earth.” The father of Zardusht said one day to _Partarúsh_: -“Give me some account of Zardusht’s star and its rise; tell me also -why he laughed at the time of his birth”. _Partarúsh_ replied: “Thy -son Zardusht is to be a chief, as all the happy spheres afford him -aid; this offspring of auspicious career will conduct the creatures of -God in the true way; promulgate the _Zandavasta_;[391] destroy the -demon and enchanters, and finally king Gushtasp shall embrace his -faith.” This announcement gave great delight to Purshasp. - -At this time there lived an aged saint named _Barzinkaroos_, of -profound experience and clear discernment; this sage having come to -the house of Purshasp, entreated that he might be allowed to bring up -Zardusht, and acquire glory by his education. Purshasp consented to -this proposal, and entrusted the infant to the holy sage. - -When Zardusht had attained his seventh year, Purtarush, the chief of -the magicians, came along with Duransanun to the child’s abode; and -made so great a display of enchantments, terrific, and fearful sights, -that all the people fled out of the house; but Zardusht, through the -aid of God, felt no alarm and moved not, so that the magicians went -away filled with affright and disappointment. After some time Zardusht -became ill, at which news all the magicians were greatly delighted; -their chief Partarósh came, with enchantments and medicine mixed up -with _mina_,[392] to Zardusht’s pillow and said: “The swallowing of -this medicine will render thy body tranquil and deliver thee from -pain.” The illuminated mind of Zardusht saw through the machination, -and taking the medicine from him, poured it on the ground, and at the -same time telling him about the _mina_ mixed up with the portion, said: - - “Shouldst thou in a different guise conceal thy violence, - I can again recognise thee, O thou full of deceit! - Thy description is furnished to me by that God - Through whose command the world is preserved.” - -The magicians consequently again returned back mortified at the -results of their wicked plot. They say that in those times they -accounted no system superior to that of magic, and that the demon held -public intercourse with persons of that class so that they obtained it -from Iblis without the intervention of enchantment. - - “Mankind then praised the foul demon, - As they now do the God of purity.” - -Nay, Purshásp, the father of Zardusht, followed that path; one day -having invited Duránsarún, Párántárúsh, and many more magicians to a -feast, he made the suitable arrangements, and when the repast was -ended, he said to Párántárúsh, the chief of the magicians: “Through -the excellence of enchantment, whereby our hearts are gladdened and -our necks exalted, thy noble person at this period is the spiritual -guide of all magicians.” Zardusht, being indignant at this speech, -said to his father: “Abandon this erroneous way, and turn to the faith -of God: hell must finally be the abode of magicians and enchanters.” -These words greatly incensed Purtarúsh, who replied: “Of what -consequence art thou before thy father! The intelligent of the earth, -and the great men of the habitable world dare not address such -insolence to me! Art thou not afraid of me? Dost thou not know me? For -this thy insolence I shall spread amongst mankind such calumnies and -lies respecting thy creed, that thou must remain in obscurity. What is -thy power that, without courtesy, thou darest slight my dignity! - - “May thy name be more degraded than that of all other men! - May no desire of thy heart be ever accomplished!” - -Zardusht replied: “O son of earth! the lie thou utterest respecting my -creed will render thyself before God and man the butt of censure: in -retaliation I shall tell, nothing but truth concerning thee, and -overpower thee by just arguments and proofs. - - “By order of the righteous God’s messenger, - I shall turn thy empire upside down.” - -All who were present, as well as the magicians, remained in -astonishment at such a stripling’s great intellect, so that -Párántárúsh left the house and hastened home, covered with confusion -and disgrace: that night he fell sick, and his people also being -attacked by illness at the same time, were hurried along with him to -the house of retribution.[393] - -When the honored age of Zardusht had reached the fifteenth year, he -attached not his heart to this place of sojourn, neither did he set -any value on the world or its concerns: but fleeing away from wrath -and the pleasures of sense, he with pious fear labored night and day -in the service of God; wherever he found any one hungry, thirsty, -naked, or helpless, he bestowed on them food, raiment, and the needful -supplies; his piety and sincerity were consequently renowned amongst -all people, although he withdrew from the public gaze. - -When he had reached the age of thirty, he directed his face towards -Iran, in company with several men and women and some of his own -relations; in the course of this journey, they came to a large expanse -of water, on which there was not a boat to be found:[394] as it is not -meet for women to expose their persons, particularly before strangers, -he became anxious about the means of taking them over in the presence -of their fellow travellers; he therefore poured out his distress -before the God of justice, entreating from him a passage over that -wide expanse of water; after which, by the order of the Almighty, he -crossed over, with his companions and relations, in such guise that -the soles of their feet only were moistened by the water; finally, in -the end of _Isfandarmaz_,[395] on the day of _Anírán_, which is the -last day of every solar month, he reached the confines of Iran. At -that period the people of Iran held a great festival at which were -assembled both high and low, and therefore Zartusht took his course to -that quarter. At night, whilst alone in some halting place, through -his enlightened spirit he beheld, in a vision, a mighty army[396] -advancing from Bactria, or the West, which from hostile motives -blocked up his road on every side; in the same place he beheld another -army coming from _Nimroz_, or “mid day,” and when both armies came to -close quarters with the sword, the Bactrian or Western troops were put -to the rout. The examiner of the vision thus interpreted it: “When -Zardusht, having been taken into the presence of God, should discover -all the mysteries of creation, that afterwards, on his return from -heaven, to promulgate the _Dínbahí_, or ‘true faith,’ the Dîvs and -Magicians, having found out his intentions, would with all expedition -make war against him. _Mizumah_,[397] the angel who attends the -servants of God, on learning this will promote the better faith, and -in consequence the _Asta va zand_ will be read with a loud voice, and -through this the demons and magicians shall be dispersed and flee -away.” On the interpretation of the dream, he hastened to the -festival, inspired with great delight. - -When he had returned from the banqueting-place, he set out about the -middle of _Ardíbihist_,[398] on the _Dímihr_, the fifteenth day of -every solar month, and came to a deep, broad, and extensive water, -named _Dábatí_,[399] in the _Astawasta_; there recommending himself to -the Lord, he stepped into the water, which at first rose up to the -calf of his legs, then to his knees, waist, and finally to his neck; -which event was thus interpreted; “the division of the water into -these four portions signifies, that in nine thousand years the -_Dínbahí_, ‘the true faith,’ shall be four times renewed; the first -time by the agency of Zardusht, who was sent to promulgate the -_Bahdín_; the second by _Hushídar_; the third by _Hushídarmáh_; and -the fourth by _Sarsásh_; all four descendants from Zardusht.” - -When the prophet had gained the opposite shore, he washed his person -as pure as his soul, and putting on undefiled garments, engaged in -prayer.[400] That very day, Bahman, the mightiest of the angels, (whom -the Muhammedans call Jabriel) came robed in light to Zardusht, and -having asked his name, said: “What dost thou most desire in this -world?” Zardusht having answered, “I have no desire but that of -pleasing God; my heart seeks after nothing but righteousness; and my -belief is that thou wilt guide me to do what is good:” then Bahram -replied “Arise! that thou mayest appear before God; entreat from his -Majesty whatever thou desirest, from his bounty he will return thee a -profitable answer.” Zardusht then arose, and according to Bahram’s -order shut his eyes for an instant; on opening them he found himself -in the bright empyreal, where he beheld an assemblage through whose -effulgence his shadow became visible: from that assemblage to the -next, was a distance of twenty-four paces; and also another assemblage -of beings formed of light waited on by virgins of paradise. The angels -gathered around Zardusht and warmly greeted him, pointing him out to -each other, until the honored son of Espintaman[401] came before God, -to whom with joyous heart and trembling body he addressed the prayers -of supplication. It is necessary to observe here, that the -_Báhidínian_, “believers of the eternal doctrine,” unanimously -maintain that Bahman assumed the human figure, and that Zardusht -ascended to the heavens in his elemental body; but, according to the -creed of the intelligent Abádián, the matter is thus stated: “By the -coming of Bahman in the human form and his speaking like a mortal, is -meant that the true essence of man is uncompounded and simple, not a -body nor any thing material; and that, under such a quality, that is, -uncompoundedness, he manifested himself to Zardusht; and his saying -‘close thy eyes,’ is figurative, and implies the eradication of the -attachments and darkness of the elemental body; when he thus became a -simple uncompounded existence, he arrived at the heavens styled the -‘eternal empyrean;’ the first company of angels signifies the souls on -high, and the second, the existence of the celestial intelligences; -the interrogatories addressed to him by the angels imply, that when -the soul leaves the upper world, it descends into this lower abode to -encounter wanderings and calamity; but when, by the attractive -influence of Bahman and through the energy of intelligence, it returns -on high, the angels feel delight on the occasion. He next ascended to -the world of simple uncompounded beings, and came near God; the -delight experienced by Zardusht signifies, the freedom from alarm and -fear enjoyed in that pure world; and his bodily tremor is emblematic -of the effulgence of the divine Majesty.” He then asked of the God of -justice: “Which of thy servants on earth is superior to the rest?” God -thus answered: “The righteous professor of righteousness; secondly, he -who to righteousness joins generosity and liberality, walking -unceasingly in the way of righteousness and withdrawing from evil; -thirdly, he who is friendly to fire and water, to all living and -animated beings; for man, by the knowledge and practice of this -precept, delivers himself from hell and attains to union with the -eternal paradise. O, Zardusht! whichever of my servants in this -transitory sojourn of existence practises oppression and cruelty -towards my creatures, and averts his head from obedience to my -commands, repeat thou to such this warning: that unless he desist from -rebellion, he shall dwell in hell to all eternity.” Zardusht again -asked: “O most just God, impart to me the names of the -_Amshásfands_,[402] that is, of the angels the most acceptable in thy -presence; gladden me by their names and sight; cause me to hear their -discourse; and graciously enable me to discern the impious -Ahriman,[403] who turns not to good through his evil nature; give me -power to behold the good and evil of this world, and its termination; -the effect of the revolving sphere, with the successive production of -modes or the reappearance of things.” When he had thus laid before the -Almighty the secret wishes of his heart, he received this answer: “I -am the author of good; the benevolent and the beneficent; I neither do -evil, nor enjoin it to be committed. I consent not to wickedness, -neither do I bring calamity on my creatures: evil and wickedness -belong exclusively to Ahriman. It is, however, incumbent on me to keep -in hell to all eternity the troops of Ahriman in reward for their -deeds: the ignorant only assert that I am the “author of evil.”[404] -The Almighty then made Zardusht acquainted with the celestial -revolutions and the motions of the stars, and their good and evil -influences; he also showed him paradise filled with light, angelic -nymphs, palaces, and _Amshásfands_; communicating to him at the same -time the knowledge of all mysteries, and teaching him all sciences, so -that he knew every thing from the commencement of existence to the end -of time; he likewise showed him Ahriman in the gloom of hell, who, on -beholding Zardusht cried aloud: “Turn away from the faith of God, that -thou mayest obtain all thy desires in this world.”[405] - -When the Lord had thus instructed Zardusht, he beheld a mountain of -flaming fire, which at the command of God he traversed without any -injury to his person; they next poured molten brass on his guileless, -silver-like bosom, and not a single hair of his body was touched; they -next opened his stomach, and taking out all the intestines again -replaced them, on which the wound immediately closed without leaving a -vestige of the incision behind. The just God then said to Zardusht: -“Thou hast passed over the mountain of fire, and hadst thy stomach -rent open; therefore tell mankind whoever turns away from the -_Dínbahí_, ‘pure faith,’ and passes over to Ahriman, in the same -manner shall the blood of his body be poured out; he shall dwell in -the fire, and never attain to the joys of paradise. Again, the molten -brass, which on contact with thy breast became congealed like ice, -causing thee no injury, is a sign that the nation, at the suggestion -of Ahriman, will turn away from the faith; and also that when the -_Dínbahí_ shall be promulgated in the world, the high Mobed shall gird -his loins to give them battle. - - “The heart of mankind was harassed with doubt, - However thou knowest this brass was but a sign; - It is therefore meet that Azarbád, the son of Márasfand, - Should impart to each individual counsel of every kind; - This molten brass he should pour on his breast, - From which no injury shall result to him. - -“So that, on beholding this miracle, all mankind with heart and soul -will follow the right true road.” - -After this, Zardusht asked of the God of justice: “In what manner -shall thy worshippers celebrate thy praise and what is to be their -Kiblah?” The Lord answered: “Tell all mankind that every bright and -luminous object is the effulgence of my light; at the time of -worshipping me, let them turn to that side, in order that Ahriman may -flee from them; in the world there is no existence superior to light, -out of which I have created paradise, the angelic nymphs, and all that -is pleasant, whilst hell was produced out of darkness. - - “Wherever thou art, and in whichever of the two abodes, - Dost thou not perceive that either place is formed out of my light?” - -Having thus taught Zardusht the _Avesta_ and the _Zand_, he said to -him: “Recite this celebrated volume to king Gushtasp, that through it -he may obtain wisdom; tell him also to attain a perfect knowledge of -me; no one should ever call me the worker of injustice; command the -Mobeds and all mankind to separate themselves from demons and -magicians.” - - “Zardusht then enlarged on the praises of the Almighty Lord.” - -When the prophet’s desires and purpose had been thus completely -attained, he was met on his return by the Amshásfand Bahman, the -protector and chief of the sheep, who said to him: “To thee I deliver -the sheep and all herds; tell the Mobeds, sages, and all men to guard -them well; prohibit them from putting to death calf, lamb, young -sheep, or any other quadruped, as men derive great benefits from them: - - “We must never be guilty of excess in slaughter.” - -“I received these flocks from the Almighty, and now accept them from -me; account not my words as unimportant, but inculcate obedience to -them on young and old:” on which Zardusht accepted the trust. The -Mobed Sarush used to say: “The Yezdanians maintain that, when Bahman -forbade the killing of young quadrupeds, he well knew it to be equally -wrong to slay the old; first, because in their youth, although they -rendered many services, they received no wages for their labor; and -secondly, in old age they produce young animals; consequently, where -Zardusht in some passages holds it lawful to slay animals, but without -committing excess; by the precept is meant, the expulsion of animal -qualities from our existence; and by avoiding excess is meant, that we -should gradually banish all vile propensities from ourselves, such as -eating to excess, which is an animal quality, but which cannot be -discontinued at once; it therefore becomes necessary to lessen the -quantity of food gradually, as stated by us under the head of the -_Sáhí Keshán_.” - -After Bahman, the Amshásfand _Ardebihist_[406] coming forward, said to -Zardusht: “O accepted of God! bear from me this message to king -Gushtasp, and say to him: ‘To thee have I delivered whatever relates -to fire. Let there be suitable places of great splendor in every city -for the general worship; appoint stated times and _Hirbuds_, or -‘ministers’ for the purpose of adoration; because that light is an -emanation of the divine effulgence. Dost thou not perceive how every -thing stands in need of fire, which requires only wood from the human -race?’ - - “Its body apprehends not death nor the decrepitude of age, - When thou layest wood within the influence of its sphere. - -“Such is its property to indicate the truth, that if thou burn -perfumes it diffuses fragrance among the assembled people: from -unpleasant odors a correspondent effect ensues; it also banishes the -affliction of cold. As fully as God hath delivered it to me, do I now -give it in charge to thee! Whoever turns away from my counsel and -advice becomes the captive of hell, and incurs the displeasure of -God.” - -When Zardusht had departed from Bahman, the Amshásfand _Shahrivar_ -came forward and said to him: “On thy arrival from the upper to the -lower world, tell men to furbish and polish up their arms, and always -to keep them in good order and readiness; in the day of battle let -them not quit their posts, but display heroic exertion and not resign -their post to any other.” - -_Asfandármaz_ then coming forward, after many benedictions said to -Zardusht: “This is the command of the Almighty to mankind, let them -keep the earth pure, and remove blood, pollution, and dead bodies to -some uncultivated place. - - “Among princes, that sovereign is by far the best - Who exerts himself to improve the face of the earth.” - -When Zardusht had departed thence, _Khúrdád_ advanced, and with -benedictions thus addressed him: “To thy charge I assign all waters of -running streams, rivers, water-courses, rivulets, wells, and all -besides; say thou to mankind: - - “Through water is the body of every creature maintained in life; - Through it the face of every tract and region is kept in bloom. - -“Let them keep dead bodies far removed from it, and let them not -defile it with blood or any dead carcass, as the food dressed with -such water furnishes an unwholesome repast.” - -_Murdád_ next came forward and said to Zardusht: “Let not men -heedlessly destroy the vegetable productions of the earth or pluck -them from their place: - - “As these form the delight of both man and beast. - -“Also, O prophet of God! send Mobeds around the whole country, and -appoint a wise person in every city to communicate these tidings to -all men: let them understand the _Avesta_, and bind around their waist -the zone, which is a sign of the pure faith and constancy in it, and -let them endeavor to keep the four substances (elements) undefiled: - - “Out of the four elements has the body of every animal - Been composed by the supreme and just Lord: - It is therefore necessary to keep them undefiled, - Accounting them among the choice blessings of God.” - -It is to be remembered that the conference of all these angels with -Zardusht was a revelation and message from God; but there was a more -transcendent dignity in this fact, that the Almighty himself addressed -Zardusht without the intervention of angels, and imparted to him the -mysteries of all that exists.[407] - -Zardusht having thus obtained from God the accurate knowledge of all -mysteries, drew near this elemental world, whilst the magicians and -demons, with a dreadful host, blocked up his road; after which the -chief enchanter and the head of the demons and his host thus addressed -Zardusht: “Keep the _Avesta_ and _Zand_ concealed; thy incantation, -fraud, and artifice make no impression on us: if thou knowest us, thou -wilt turn away from such practices.” On hearing this, Zardusht recited -aloud one chapter of the _Avesta_ and _Zand_; when these sounds -reached the demons, they hid themselves under ground, and the -magicians trembled; a part of the enchanters died on the spot, and the -remainder implored for mercy. - -The Mobed _Surúsh_, the Yezdánian, has been heard to say: “It is -recorded in the treatise of _Míhín Farúsh_ that, according to the -doctors of the pure faith, when Zardusht had thus obtained the victory -over the demons, and was proceeding to an interview with the great -king Gushtasp, there happened to be two oppressive and infidel kings -in his road; these Zardusht invited to adopt the pure faith and turn -away from their evil practices; but they heeded not his words, he -therefore prayed to God, and there began to blow a mighty wind, which -lifted up these two kings on high and kept them suspended in the air; -the people who came around were astonished on beholding this sight; -the birds also from every quarter of the sky flocked around the two -kings, and with beaks and talons tore off their flesh until their -bones fell to the ground.[408] - -Zaratusht, the son of Bahram, says, that when Zardusht after his -victory arrived at the court of the great king Gushtasp, he called on -the name God, and then sought access to the sovereign.[409] He beheld -the first rank, composed of the grandees and champions of Iran and -other regions, standing around; and above these two ranks of sages, -philosophers, and learned men, who took precedence of each other in -proportion to their knowledge, for this great king was exceedingly -attached to men of science; he next beheld the monarch of the world -seated on a lofty throne, and his brows encircled with a costly crown: -on which Zardusht in eloquent language recited the praises of the -king. - -Farzánah Bahram, the son of Farhad, of the Yazdanian sect, relates -thus in the _Sháristán_: “The doctors of the pure faith say, that when -Zardusht entered into king Gushtasp’s assembly, he held in his hand a -blazing fire which caused him no injury; he then transferred that fire -to the king’s hands, which in like manner remained unhurt; he -afterwards gave it into the hands of others and still no trace of -burning appeared; he next lay down, and ordered molten brass to be -poured on his bosom four different times: although the molten metal -came on his breast, no bodily injury resulted from it.”[410] -Zaratusht, the son of Bahram, adds: The sovereign of Iran having thus -ascertained the dignity of the prophet of the human race, addressed -him with terms of earnest affection, and ordering a chair to be -brought, placed him in front of the royal throne, above the two ranks -of the philosophers. Zardusht, agreeably to the king’s command, having -taken this seat, manifested to all the assembly the precious diamonds -of his intellectual stores. The sages and eminent men of the exterior -circles on his right and left entered on the path of controversy, but -were finally refuted, one after another. They say that on this day -thirty of the sages seated on his right, being unable to withstand the -arguments of Zardusht, bore testimony to his knowledge and truth; and -in like manner thirty of the wise men on his left were overpowered and -convinced. When such sages, who had not their equals in the seven -climates, had been thus confuted, the illustrious prince called the -prophet of the Lord into his presence, and for further conviction -questioned him on various sciences and the traditions of old; and -having received conclusive answers on all these points he was struck -with amazement. The great king therefore assigned to the prophet of -the just Lord a dwelling adjacent to his own palace, and the -philosophers departed home with afflicted hearts. During the whole -night they read over books with each other, and concerted with each -other how they might, the following morning, conduct the argument and -controversy with Zardusht; whilst the prophet of the Lord on coming to -his house, according to his custom, desisted not until morning from -acts of worship and praise. The following day, when Zardusht and the -philosophers assembled around the king, whatever the sages advanced -which was not strictly conformable to truth, Zardusht produced a -hundred arguments, both theoretical and practical, to invalidate the -assertion; and if they demanded a proof of whatever he himself -advanced, he adduced a hundred convincing demonstrations. Gushtasp -accordingly increased the dignity of the Lord’s prophet, and inquired -his name, lineage, and native city; to which questions Zardusht -returned the meet answer, and said: “O great king, to-morrow is the -day of Hormuz, or the first of the month; command the chiefs of the -military to assemble and all the philosophers to appear, that I may -reduce all to silence, as I have done this assembly, and give answers -which will dumbfound them; after which I shall execute the commission -with which I am entrusted.” - -Gushtasp issued the requisite order, and they all returned home with -this agreement. Zardusht, from inclination and habit, continued in -supplication to the Lord; and the wise men said to each other: “This -stranger has twice degraded us wise men, taken away our reputation, -and obtained favor with the king:” they therefore conferred with each -other how they could most effectually oppose Zardusht and refute his -arguments. - - “With this understanding each retired to his own abode, - And through anxiety not one of them slept all that night.” - -On the third day, the nobles, doctors, and wise men assembled around -the king, and Zardusht also advanced into the company: although the -sages and learned men had mutually combined to confound him by -argument, they were all finally refuted. When the philosophers were no -longer able to utter a word, the superior personages gave place to -Zardusht, on which the prophet of the Lord loosed his tongue and said -to Gushtasp: “I am the envoy of the Lord the Creator of the heavens, -earth, and stars; the disinterested bestower of daily food to his -servant: he who has brought thee from non-existence into being and -made kings thy servants, has sent me to thee.” Then taking the -_Avesta_ and _Zand_ out of a case, he added: “This volume God has -given to me, and sent me forth to the human race with the commandments -named _Astawazand_, which require implicit obedience; if thou wilt -conform to the commands of God, in like manner as he has made thee -sovereign of the world, he will also make thee eternally happy in -futurity and paradise; but if thou avert the head from his command, -thou incurrest the displeasure of the just God; the foundation of thy -greatness shall be rent, and thou shalt finally become a denizen of -hell. - - “Adopt no line of conduct through the suggestion of a Div. - From this time forward listen to my commands.” - -The great king replied: “What proof dost thou adduce, and what miracle -dost thou perform? exhibit them, that I may instantly diffuse thy -faith over all the world.” Zardusht said: “One of my decisive proofs -and miraculous works is this volume, on once listening to which thou -shalt never more behold demon or magician: this volume contains the -mysteries of both worlds, and clearly expounds the revolutions of the -stars: there is no being in existence an account of which is not found -in this book.” The king then commanded: “Read me a section of this -heavenly volume.” Zardusht having read one chapter, Gushtasp not -feeling a full conviction, said to him: “Thou hast urged a bold suit; -but precipitancy in such an affair is by no means proper; I shall -devote some days to exploring the nature of the _Zand-Avesta_: but in -the mean time come thou hither as usual.” Zardusht then - - “Returned to the house assigned him by the king.” - -The enraged philosophers also came out and took counsel with each -other about slaying Zardusht. The following morning, when Zardusht -left the house to go to the king’s palace, he delivered the key of his -apartment to the king’s porter; but the philosophers so deluded this -man, that he gave up the key secretly to them; on which they opened -the door of the prophet’s apartment, and having put into bags unclean -things which they had collected, such as blood, hair, a cat’s head, a -dog’s head, dead men’s bones and the like, placed them under his -pillow, and having locked the door, gave the key back to the porter, -previously obliging him to swear to keep the matter altogether secret; -after this they went to the palace, where they beheld Zardusht seated -near the king, who was engaged in reading the _Zand-Avesta_, - - “Lost in amazement at the characters and words.” - -The philosophers said: “The _Zand-Avesta_ is altogether magic, and -this man is a wizard, who by force of spells has produced an -impression on thy heart, in order to bring evil and confusion all over -the world; but be not thou the wizard’s ally.” On hearing this, -Gushtasp ordered persons to repair to Zardusht’s house and make a -careful examination; they went and immediately brought before the king -whatever they found in the house, whether eatables, carpets, dresses, -clothes-bags, etc., all which they opened in the king’s presence; on -this, the talons, hair, and such like impurities, which had been -hidden there by the philosophers, were exposed to view. The king was -greatly enraged, and said to Zardusht: “This is thy magic practice.” -The prophet of the Lord being quite astonished, replied: “I have no -knowledge of these things; let his majesty inquire the particulars -from the porter.” The porter on being summoned, said: “Zardusht closed -his door, and not even wind had access to it.” The king became quite -indignant and said to Zardusht: “They have not brought these sacks -from heaven and hid them under the pillow.” In his rage he threw away -the _Avesta-Zand_, and sent Zardusht in chains to prison: there was -also a porter appointed to give him a fixed allowance and keep strict -watch. Zardusht remained in chains both day and night, the porter -bringing him daily a loaf of bread and a pitcher of water; and one -whole week passed in that manner. - -They relate that Gushtasp had a royal steed called the “Black -Charger,” which the great king mounted on the day of battle: - - “When, mounted on this charger’s back, he advanced to the fight, - The result of the combat terminated in victory.” - -One morning at dawn, the master of the horse beheld the Black Charger -without fore or hind feet, which he saw were drawn up into his belly; -in great haste he announced this event to the sovereign of the world. -Gushtasp in great affliction hurried to the stable, summoning thither -the veterinary surgeons, physicians, and learned men, all of whom -exerted themselves in remedies and applications without any benefit -resulting from their exertions. Through grief the king partook not of -food that day, and the military were sorely afflicted. Zardusht, who -in consequence of the general mourning had not received his allowance -before evening, became hungry; when the evening had passed, the porter -came and brought the provisions, stating at the same time what had -befallen the Black Charger; on this the prophet of the Lord said to -him: “To-morrow tell the king that I can set this affair to rights.” -The next morning the porter conveyed the prophet’s message to the -king, on which orders were given to bring Zardusht into the royal -presence. This favorable intelligence having been communicated to -Zardusht, the prophet entered into a warm bath, and after ablution, on -appearing before the king, he uttered benedictions on the sovereign of -the world. Gushtasp then assigned him a place near himself, and having -explained the state of the horse, added: - - “If thou be truly a prophet sent from the Lord, - Thou canst easily restore this horse to perfect health.” - -Zardusht replied: “If thou wilt, O king, engage to perform four -things, thou shalt again behold the charger’s fore and hind legs.” The -king said: “I accept the conditions: what is the first?” Zardusht -replied: “Let us all repair to the Black Charger’s bed.” On arriving -there he said to the king: “Make thy heart and tongue of one accord: -utter with thy tongue and repeat with thy heart, that without doubt, -suspicion, or equivocation, I am a prophet and apostle sent from God.” -The king having agreed to this, the prophet of the Lord addressed his -petitions to the God of justice, and then rubbing with his hand the -horse’s right forefoot, it straightway came out, on which the king and -the soldiery loudly applauded the holy man. - -After this, he said to the king: “Command the heroic Isfendiar to -enter into a covenant with me that he will gird up his loins to -promulgate the faith of the Lord.” The prince was not averse, and -entered into a solemn engagement; on which the apostle prayed to the -Lord until the right hind leg came out. - -He then said to the great king: “Send an _Ustawar_ and an _Amin_ along -with me to the great queen _Kitábún_, in order that she may enter into -the true faith.” The king having assented, Zardusht on coming into the -king’s golden apartment thus addressed queen Kitábún: “Mighty -princess! the Lord has expressly selected thee to share the couch of -Gushtasp and to be the mother of Isfendiar. I am the Lord’s prophet -sent by him to the king: therefore adopt the pure faith.” On this the -great queen with heart and soul attached herself in sincerity to the -prophet: after which Zardusht prayed, so that the other hind leg came -out. - -He then said to the king: “Now send for the porter; it is proper to -inquire of him who it was that conveyed this stuff of magical -preparation to my house.” The king summoned the chamberlain and -questioned him in a threatening tone, saying: “If thou wilt confess -the truth, thou savest thy life; but otherwise, thou shalt have thy -head under thy feet.” The treacherous chamberlain implored pardon, and -related all the particulars of the bribery and delusion practised by -the philosophers’ friends. Gushtasp was exceedingly indignant, and -ordered the four philosophers to be hanged. Zardusht then recited the -prayers taught him by the Almighty, so that the other forefoot came -out, and the swift charger stood on his legs. The sovereign of Iran -kissed the prophet’s head and face, and leading him to the throne, -seated him near himself; he also requested pardon for his sin and gave -back the prophet’s goods.[411] - -The doctors of the pure faith also record, that king _Lohrasp_ and -_Zerir_, brother to Gushtasp having fallen into so violent a malady, -that the physicians in despair desisted from all attendance on them, -but having been restored to health through the prayers of Zardusht, -they adopted the pure faith.[412] - -Zaratusht the son of Bahram relates: One day Zardusht, having come -into the king’s presence, he thus addressed the prophet of the Lord: -“I desire to obtain four things from God; it is therefore meet that -the prophet should request them: first, that I should behold my own -state in the next world; secondly, that in the time of conflict no -blow should make any impression on me, so that I may be able to -diffuse the true faith; thirdly, that I may know thoroughly the -mysteries of good and evil in this world; fourthly, that until the day -of judgment my spirit may remain united to my body.” Zardusht replied: -“I will entreat the Lord to grant these four wishes: - - “But it is necessary that out of these four wishes - Thou shouldst implore one only for thyself: - Choose three wishes for three different persons: - That I may entreat them from the righteous Creator; - He will not confer on any one person these four gifts, - Because that person might say: ‘I am the supreme Creator.’” - -The king having agreed to this, Zaratusht at the time of evening -prayer went to his house, repeated the praises of the Almighty, -entreating from him the accomplishment of the king’s desires, and lay -down in the act of adoration: in this state God showed him in a vision -that the king’s petition was granted. At dawn of day the king was -seated on his throne; Zardusht appeared in the royal presence and came -to his place; in a moment after, the king’s chamberlain entering in -great trepidation, said: “There are four terror-striking, -awe-inspiring horsemen at the door: - - “Never before have I beheld horsemen of such a kind.” - -The king asked of Zardusht: “Who are these persons?” but he had -scarcely done speaking before all the four horsemen dressed in green, -completely armed, of majestic port, drew near the throne; these four -cavaliers were of the number of those angels who are nearest the just -God, and are of the great Amshasfands, namely, _Bahman_,[413] -_Ardibahist_,[414] _Azarkhurdad_,[415] and _Azargushtásp_,[416] who -thus addressed the king: “We are angels and the envoys of God. The -Dispenser of justice thus declares: ‘Zardusht is my prophet, whom I -have sent to all the inhabitants of the earth; attend well to him; if -thou devote thyself to his way, thou art delivered from hell. Never -inflict pain on him; and when thou obtainest thy desires, avert not -thy head from his commands.’” - -King Gushtasp, although in magnanimity immovable as mount _Alburz_, -yet through the majesty of the angels and their awful presence, fell -senseless from his throne: on recovering himself he thus addressed the -righteous Lord: - - “I am the lowest of all thy servants, - And have girt up my loins to execute thy orders.” - -When the Amshásfands heard this answer, they departed; and the -military, on learning this wonderful occurrence, were all assembled: -the king also, trembling all over, apologized to Zardusht: - - “Thy command sits upon my soul; - My spirit is like the son of the Lord; - My body, soul, and wealth are all to thee devoted, - By order of the just and glorious Creator.” - -The prophet of the Lord replied: “May good tidings ever attend thee! I -have entreated from the Almighty the completion of thy desires, and my -prayer has been granted.” Zardusht then ordered that for the purpose -of the _Yashtan-i-darún_,[417] that is, “the recitation and breathing -out of prayer,” they should make ready in an inner apartment wine, -sweet perfumes, milk, and a pomegranate; and over these he performed -_Yasht_, or “the recitation of prayers,” in a low voice, out of the -_Avesta_ and _Zand_; after this ceremony they gave Gushtasp some of -the hallowed wine, on the mere tasting of which he became insensible -and rose not up for three days: in that interval his spirit ascended -to heaven, and there beheld the celestial nymphs, their palaces, -progeny, and attendants; the blessings of paradise; the different -gradations of rank among the virtuous, and the grade reserved for -himself. - -The prophet next presented to _Bishutan_[418] some of that hallowed -milk, on drinking of which he was delivered from the pangs of death -and obtained eternal life. Some of the Yezdánian doctors hold, that by -eternal life is implied the knowledge of one’s own essence and soul, -which never admit of decay; milk is also mentioned, as it constitutes -the food of children, and science is the food of spirit; on which -account they have likened science to consecrated milk. He next gave -_Jamasp_[419] some of the hallowed perfume, through the efficacy of -which universal science shed its lustre on his heart; so that, from -that very day of his existence, whatever was to come to pass until the -day of judgment was clearly comprehended by him in all its details. He -then gave one grain of the hallowed pomegranate to _Isfendiar_, who on -eating it instantly became brazen-bodied, and his frame grew so hard -that no blow could make an impression on it. - -When the great king awoke from his vision, he broke out into praise -and adoration; after which he called for Zardusht, to whom he related -what he had witnessed, and commanded all men to receive the pure -faith; then, being seated on his throne, he ordered the prophet of the -Lord to recite some sections of the _Zand_ in his presence. On hearing -the _Avesta_, the demons fled and concealed themselves under the -earth. The great king next commanded that in every city the Mobeds -should attend to the observance of fire, erecting domes over it, and -keeping stated festivals and times. - - -ACCOUNT OF THE PRECEPTS GIVEN BY ZARDUSHT TO THE KING AND TO ALL -MANKIND.――The prophet Zardusht, having read to the king some sections -concerning the greatness and majesty of the Almighty, said to him: “As -thou hast adopted the ways of God, the joy of paradise is to be thy -portion; but he who abandons that way is hurried off to hell by -Ahriman, who feels delighted, and on making the capture says to his -victim: ‘Because thou hast abandoned the ways of God, therefore art -thou fallen into hell.’ But the just God is liberal to his servants, -and has sent me to them, saying: ‘Communicate my covenant to all -created beings, that they may abandon their perverse ways.’ I am his -prophet, sent to thee that thou mayst guide mankind to the right road; -as the final result of persevering in the way of God is the attainment -of paradise; and the retribution of devotedness to Ahriman is hell. He -moreover commanded me: ‘Say thou to mankind, if ye adopt the pure -faith, then shall paradise be your place; but if ye receive it not, -you follow the institutes of Ahriman, and hell shall be your abode.’ -The several demonstrations of Zardusht and his wondrous works are to -you an abundant proof of the truth of his faith. Know also that at -first he sought the world; but finally regarded wife, children, and -relations as strangers to himself; he has moreover attained to such -perfect faith, that the king and the mendicant are the same in his -sight. He has enjoined me nothing more than this: neither has he given -me permission to be your intercessor or to entreat from him remission -of your sins: for protection extended to the evil doer is itself -criminal, and the chastisement of evil deeds is true religion: he -enjoined me also to entertain hope of his favor from my words and -deeds.” - - “Look to your acts and words, for they produce their sure effect, - The same seed that people sow, such the harvest they shall reap.” - -It is also expressly stated in the glorious Koran to the same -purport:[420] “On the very day when the spirit (Gabriel) and the -angels shall be ranged in their order, nobody shall speak except him -to whom the Merciful will permit it, and who will say nothing but what -is just.” In another place it is declared:[421] “Truly thou canst not -direct whomsoever thou lovest; but God will direct whomsoever he -pleases.” It is also recorded in the traditions, that the asylum of -prophecy (on whom be blessings!) said to the beautiful Fatima: “O -Fatima! fear nothing, for thou art the prophet’s daughter; perform -good works! again I say, perform good works!” He also proposed this -additional proof! “Not one of the eminent, eloquent, learned, or wise -men of the world can produce a composition which in the least -resembles the volume I have sent down; if they are able let them -declare it; but as they are unable, let them confess that this is the -voice of God: a similar statement has also been made in the divine -words of the Koran: ‘produce ye a chapter resembling it.’ Again of the -many prophets who appeared on earth, all were ignorant of future -events except Zardusht, who, in the _Zend-Avesta_, clearly expounded -whatever was to come to pass until the day of judgment, whether good -or evil.” - - “Concerning kings inspired by truth, religion, and justice, - There are minute details if thou wilt call them to mind: - The names of all he has consigned to lasting fame, - Their every act and deed, whether just or unjust alike.” - -Moreover no prophet, save Zardusht, bestowed in the presence of God -benedictions on the military class whose hearts were rightly affected -towards him. - - “To the follower of his faith he said, if to the true believers - Thou doest good, then good shall result to thee.” - -But above all he has said: “God has commanded me: ‘Say thou to mankind -they are not to abide in hell for ever; when their sins are expiated, -they are delivered out of it.’” - -It is generally reported that Zardusht was of _Azarbadgán_[422] or -_Tabruz_; but those who are not _Beh-dinians_, or “true believers,” -assert, and the writer of this work has also heard from the Mobed -_Torru_ of _Busáwári_, in Gujurat, that the birth-place and -distinguished ancestors of the prophet belong to the city of -_Rai_.[423] - -A Mobed has transcribed as follows from the _Avesta_ and _Zand_,[424] -when the Amshásfand Báhmán, pursuant to God’s command, had borne the -prophet Zardusht to heaven, he thus entreated of the Almighty: “Close -the door of death against me: let that be my miracle.” But the -righteous Lord replied: “If I close the gates of death against thee, -thou wilt not be satisfied; nay, thou wouldst entreat death from me.” -He then gave Zardusht something like honey, on tasting of which he -became insensible; like one in a profound sleep has visions, he became -acquainted with the mysteries of existence, clearly perceiving the -good and evil of whatever is in being; nay, he knew the number of -hairs on the sheep, and the sum of the leaves on a tree. When his -senses were restored, the Almighty asked him: “What hast thou seen?” -He answered: O supreme ruler! I beheld in hell, along with Ahriman, -many wealthy persons who had been ungrateful in this world; and I -found in the supreme paradise many persons, rich in gold and silver, -who had worshipped the Lord and been grateful to him. I moreover saw -in hell many who were eminent for wealth, but who were childless; and -many an indigent Durvesh, the father of many children, in the -enjoyment of paradise. I saw moreover a tree with seven branches,[425] -the shadow of which extended far and wide; one branch of gold, the -second of silver, the third of copper, the fourth of brass, the fifth -of tin (or lead), the sixth of steel, the seventh of mixed iron.” The -Lord then said to his prophet: “The tree with seven branches is the -series of events in the world, in which agitation arises from seven -sources through the revolution of the spheres; the first or golden -branch typifies the way and attraction by which thou hast come to my -presence and attained the prophet’s office; the second or silver -branch signifies that the great sovereign of the age shall receive thy -system of faith, and that the demons shall hide themselves in dismay; -the third or copper branch is the period of the Ashkanian kings. - - “He who is not a true believer - Holds in abhorrence the pure in faith. - The great stock of fortune shall at this time - Be torn piecemeal and scattered all over the world. - -“The fourth, or the branch of brass, typifies the reign of Ardashir, -the son of Sássán, who shall adorn the universe with the true faith -and reestablish the pure institutes; the people will embrace the faith -through the force of demonstration: they will pour molten copper and -brass on the breast of Arzabad, and his person shall receive no -injury. The fifth, or leaden branch is the reign of Báhrám Gor, during -which mankind will enjoy repose. - - “When mankind are in the enjoyment of happiness, - Ahriman is grieved beforehand at this prosperous state. - -“The sixth branch, or that of steel, is the reign of Nushirwan, -through whose equity the aged world shall be restored to youth; and -although _Mazdak_ of corrupt heart shall pursue his designs, yet will -he be unable to do any injury to the pure faith. The seventh branch, -or that of mixed iron, is emblematic of the time when the period of a -thousand years verges to its end,[426] and the royal dignity falls to -_Mazdakin_, and no respect remains to the pure faith; then a people -clothed in black, oppressors of the poor, without title, reputation, -or merit, friends to tumult and wickedness, fraudulent, hypocritical, -and deceitful, bitter of heart like aloes, with honied tongue, -traitors to bread and salt, ungrateful, speakers of falsehood, alike -building the most magnificent mansions and fond of ruined -caravansarais, seeking the ways of hell, having conspired together -will destroy the fire-temples, and turn to themselves the spirit of -the inhabitants of Iran. The sons and daughters of the nobles shall -fall into their hands, and the children of the virtuous and mighty -become their attendants: nay, this race shall make a covenant-breaker -king over them: - - “That person among them obtains both power and rank, - Whose career is directed to the production of misery. - -“When this millennium comes to a termination, the clouds shall mostly -appear unattended by rain; the rains not fall in their season; heats -predominate; the water of rivers be lessened; few cows or sheep be -left remaining; and men despicable in figure, small of stature, weak -in form, shall then be met with. - - “The speed of the horse and the rider shall suffer diminution, - And no productive energy remain in the bosom of the sown field.” - -“Men shall gird the sacred zone in secrecy, and drag on a dishonored -existence, forgetting altogether the _Náúroz_ and _the festival of -Farvardin_.[427] - - “The mouth of Safandármuz shall be opened wide, - And the hidden treasures cast forth and exposed to view.” - -“An evil-disposed rapacious host of Turks shall come to Iran, and -force away the crown and throne from its chieftains. O, Zardusht! -communicate these tidings to the Mobeds, that they may impart them to -the people.” Zardusht replied: “How shall the professors of the true -faith be able to perform their worship?” to which this answer was -given: “When the second millennium commences, mankind shall behold -more calamity than was witnessed in the times of Zohák and Afrasiáb; -and when that period is terminated, there will not be found any one of -the least merit among the professors of the true faith. - - “From every quarter they shall prepare to assail Iran, - With their chargers’ hoofs they shall lay it waste.” - -Zardusht said: “O righteous Ormuzd! after so much toil, abridgment of -life and long-protracted suffering shall not the professors of the -true faith find some intercessor; and how can discomfiture overtake -those clothed in black vestments?” The Almighty answered thus: “Pain -is not to last for ever; when the black ensign is displayed, a host -arrayed in red vestments and helmets shall come forth from the -formidable room; and the land of Khorasan be desolate by flood and -vapor; the earth shall tremble and the cultivated fields be laid -waste; Turk, Rúmite, and Arab encounter each other; and the borders of -Turan be made a wilderness by Turks, Persians, and Hindoos; the sacred -fire be borne to _Dushkhargar_, or ‘the mountainous region;’ and, -through invasions, Iran become one scene of desolation.” The prophet -then said: “O, Lord! however short the duration of this people may be, -they will surely destroy life; how then shall these wicked be -exterminated?” To which he received this answer: “The standard of an -army arises out of Khorasan, and then Hoshidar is separated from his -mother; when he arrives at the age of thirty, he will follow the -ancient mode of faith, and become sovereign of Hindustan and China; he -shall have a son of the Kaianian race, named Bahram and entitled -Hamawand, but whom his nation will call Shapur: on the birth of that -illustrious child, the stars shall drop down from heaven; and his -father pass away from this world in the month of _Aban_ and the day of -_Baud_.[428] When this son has attained twenty-one years of age, he -shall march in every direction with a numerous host, and proceeding -with his troops to Balkh and Bokhara, advance into Iran with the -armies of India and China. A man professing the good faith in the -mountain region will then exert himself, and bringing up an army from -Khorasan and Sistan, come to the aid of Iran: - - “From Kishtí Duwál, Roome, and Firingstan, - From demons clothed in black, like piebald wolves.” - -“Three mighty battles shall then ensue, which will render Persia the -land of mourning; after which will arise an exalted avenging prince -who shall obtain the victory. In those days a thousand women shall not -be able to find one man; and if they should perchance behold one, they -shall be filled with astonishment. When those times are come to an -end, I shall send Serósh towards Jerusalem and summon Bishutan, who -will issue forth with a company of one hundred and fifty virtuous men, -and duly perform _Yasht_, or ‘prayer,’ on which Ahriman will engage in -battle with them; but, on hearing the sound of the _Hadokht_ and the -_Ashtawazand_, the partizans of Ahriman shall flee out of Iran. A -prince, Báhrám by name, shall then ascend the throne, bring back the -sacred fire, and restore the institutions of ancient times, and the -seed of the wicked shall then be exterminated: finally, when Bishutan -beholds every thing duly arranged, he will return with royal pomp to -his own palace.” - -The Mobed _Azar Khirad_ relates in his book that the _Zand_ contains -twenty-one _Nosks_, or “parts,” every _Nosk_ having a particular name -in Zand and Parsi according to the following list:[429] _Yathá_, -_Ita_, _Ahu_, _Wíría_, _Alartúsh_, _Nadar_, which they call in Arabic -_Búfastál_, and in Parsi _Favaímasíhan_. This Nosk treats of the -stars, constellations, order of the heavens, the aspects, the good and -evil influences of the heavenly bodies, and such like topics. The -other Nosks are: the _Ashád_, _Chíd_, _Hashú_, _Wankawísh_, _Wazda_, -_Mankahú_, _Sítanú_, _Nan_, _Ankahísh_, _Marzái_, _Khashar_, _Machá_, -_Ahrá_, _Ayám_, _Darkúbíú_ and _Astarám_: all the sciences are -contained in the Zand, but some are mentioned enigmatically and by way -of allusion. At present there are fourteen complete Nosks possessed by -the Dostúrs of Karman, the other seven being incomplete, as through -the wars and dissensions which prevailed in Iran some of the Nosks -have disappeared, so that, notwithstanding the greatest researches, -the Nosks have come into their hands in a defective state. - -Zaratusht Báhrám, the son of _Pazhdú_, relates that, at the time of -the promulgation of the pure faith in Iran, there lived in India a -sage of profound learning, named _Jangrangháchah_,[430] whose pupil -_Jamasp_[431] had been during many years, a circumstance which -procured him great distinction. On being informed of Gushtasp’s -conversion, he wrote an epistle to the great king, to dissuade him -from the profession of the pure faith. By the king’s command, this -sage came to Iran to hold a disputation with Zardusht, who said to -him: “Listen to one Nosk of this Asta which I have received from God, -and attend to its interpretation.” Upon this, at the illustrious -prophet’s command, one of his disciples read a Nosk in which God said -thus to Zardusht: “On the promulgation of the pure faith, there shall -come from Hindustan a wise man, named _Jangrangháchah_, who will ask -thee questions, after such and such guise, the answers to which are -after this manner, thus answering all his questions: - - “By this same Nosk his condition was improved, - And the answer to each question was correctly given.” - -When he heard the solutions of his questions he fell from his chair, -and on recovering his senses adopted the pure faith. The prophet Sásán -the Fifth, in his select commentary on the _Dasátir_ and the -interpretation of the code of Zardusht, relates, that when Isfendiar -had promulgated the pure faith, the eminent sages of Greece dispatched -a learned man, named _Niyátús_,[432] to interrogate the prophet of the -Lord concerning the exact nature of his tenets. Gushtasp, having -assigned him an audience on a most auspicious day. this distinguished -Greek, on beholding the face of Zardusht, said: “From this face, -knowledge, sagacity, and science are manifest as the properties of a -mind so formed; and this is not the physiognomy of one who utters -falsehoods.” He then asked him concerning the moment, day, month, and -year of his birth, which being communicated by Zardusht, Niyátús -observed: “Under such a horoscope, a person of weak intellects cannot -be born.” He next questioned him concerning his food, sleep, and mode -of life, which being also explained, Niyátús added: “From this rule of -life he cannot be an impostor.” The prophet of the Lord then said to -him: “Keep in thy heart whatever thou desirest to inquire about, and -utter it not with thy tongue; as the Almighty has acquainted me with -it, and for my sake has sent me his word in this chapter relative to -these matters.” On this, one of the prophet’s disciples read to -Niyátús, out of a single chapter, all that was laid up in the noble -envoy’s breast, and whatever he was commissioned to enquire about, at -the desire of the eminent men of Greece. - -The Fifth Sásán, in like manner, relates that when the report of -Jangrangháchah’s having adopted the faith was published abroad, a -sage, by name _Byásá_,[433] came from India to Iran; and the sages of -every country being assembled, pursuant to the great king’s command, -Biyása thus addressed the prophet of the Lord in the presence of all: -“O, Zardusht! in consequence of thy answers and unfolding of mysteries -to the wise Jangrangháchah, thou art accounted a true prophet. I have -besides heard of innumerable miracles performed by thee. Know that I -also, in my own country, am reckoned as one who is unequalled both in -the theoretical and practical sciences. I now hope that thou wilt -disclose the secrets which I have kept pent up in my bosom, and have -never in any manner transferred from the page of my heart to the lip: -some people tell us that the genii impart knowledge of this kind to -the worshippers of Ahriman: however if thou canst unfold all these -secrets, I shall turn to thy faith.” The prophet of the Lord said: -“Long before thy arrival, the God of purity made all known to me.” He -then recited a _Simnad_, “chapter,” which the Lord had sent down on -those subjects; in which was specified whatever was in Byása’s heart, -with the answer attached to it; after which Byása listened to the word -of God, and having made profession of the pure faith, returned to -Hindustan. It is to be remarked that the two Simnad which contain the -answers to the eminent envoy of the Greeks and the sage Byasa do not -form a part of the Astawazand, but constitute a portion of the -Desátir,[434] or of the celestial volume, in the language of which a -chapter is styled a Simnad. - -Moreover, Zaratusht Báhrám thus relates concerning the account of -heaven and hell given by _Ardaiviráf_.[435] It is recorded that, when -the power of _Ardeshir Babagan_ was firmly established, he assembled -around him forty thousand virtuous Mobeds and Dustars, out of which -number he selected four thousand; of those thus selected he set apart -four hundred, who knew by heart the greater part of the Asta; of these -four hundred he again chose out forty learned doctors; and from these -he selected seven unblemished sages, equally free from mortal and -venial sins, whom he thus addressed: “Let whichever of you is able -divest himself of body, and bring us intelligence concerning heaven -and hell.” These righteous men made answer: “For such a purpose there -is required a man who from the age of seven upwards has not committed -sin.” After which these sages selected from amongst them one, named -_Ardai Viráf_,[436] whom they knew to be possessed of this excellence, -and, accompanied by the great king, they all repaired to _Azar -Khúrdád_, which was a fire-temple; having there prepared a golden -throne for _Ardai Viráf_, the forty thousand professors of the faith -performed _Yazash_, that is, recited prayers according to the -prescribed mode. Ardáiviráf, having drunk a cup of hallowed wine which -he received from the Dustur, lay down on his couch and did not arise -before the expiration of a week; his spirit, through the efficacy of -the divine word, having been separated from the body, those six -Dustúrs all the while standing around his pillow. On the eighth day -Ardáí, arising from sleep, ordered a scribe to be brought, who should -commit to writing all his words; and he thus spoke:[437] “When I fell -asleep, _Sirushi_, who is called also _Surúsh Ashú_, or _Ashú_ simply, -or ‘the Angel of paradise,’ came near. Having made my salám, I -explained the motives of my coming to the other world. He took my hand -and said: ‘Ascend three steps.’ I obeyed, and arrived at the _Chanyud -Pul_, or ‘the straight bridge of judgment’ (the sarát of the -Muhammedans). The accompanying Angel pointed me out the road, when I -beheld a bridge finer than a hair and sharper than a razor, and -strong, and its length was seven-and-thirty _rasans_, or cords.[438] I -beheld a spirit just parted from the body in a state of tranquillity; -on its arrival at the bridge of judgment, a fragrant gale came from -mid-day or the east, out of which issued forth a beautiful nymph-like -form, the like of which I never before beheld. The spirit asked her: -‘Who art thou of such surpassing beauty?’ She replied: ‘I am the -personification of thy good deeds.’ - -“I then saw _Mihr Ized_,[439] at whose side were standing _Rash -Rast_[440] and _Sarúsh Ized_ holding a balance in his hand, and angels -assembled around them. Now Mihr Ized is the angel whose province it is -to number and estimate people in regard to rewards and punishments. -Rash is his minister of justice and the lord of equity; and Sarúsh is -the lord of messages and the master of announcements. To these I made -my salam which they returned, and I passed over the bridge.[441] -Several spirits then appeared who addressed me affectionately; Báhmán -next appeared and said to me: ‘Come on, that I may show thee the -_Gah-i-zarin’_ (or golden place, which is the same as the celestial -throne). I proceeded with him to a beautiful throne, where I beheld -the spirit before mentioned, whose deeds were personified by a -beauteous form, with the _Ashwan_, or ‘pure spirits,’ and the -inhabitants of paradise around him, with the spirits of his relations -rejoicing as on the arrival of a long-absent traveller from his abode; -then Báhmán took his hand and brought him to a place worthy of him. -When I had proceeded a little onwards, I beheld a lofty portico, where -by order of Surúsh I addressed my prayers towards the place of God, -and my sight became darkened through the effulgence of light. Surúsh -again brought me back to the bridge of judgment, around which I beheld -a number of persons standing with folded hands. I asked: ‘Who are -those persons?’ Surúsh answered: ‘These are the weak in faith, who -remain in this state until the day of judgment: if they possessed an -additional particle of virtue, equal in weight to one of the hairs of -the eyelash, they would be relieved from this calamity.’ I then beheld -another assemblage like unto shining stars. Surush said: ‘This is the -_Satra Payah_,[442] (or the sphere of the fixed stars); in these are a -people who with all their wealth observed not the _Gítí Kharíd_[443] -(the purchase of the other world) and the _Naú Roz_ (or the festival -of the new year.)’ He next brought me to the _Máh Páyah_ (or lunar -sphere), where I beheld spirits resplendent as the moon. The angel -said: ‘this _Máh Páyah_ is also one of the spheres of paradise, in which -are those who have performed every kind of meritorious act and deed, -except observing the _Naú Roz_.’ He then conducted me to the _Khúrshíd -Páyah_ (or solar sphere) where I beheld spirits exceedingly bright, -radiant as the sun. The angel said: ‘In the solar sphere are the -persons who have observed the _Gítí Kharíd_ and the _Naú Roz_.’ At his -command, I then addressed my prayers to the _Warakt_ and -_Khurah-i-Yazdan_, or ‘light of the Almighty:’ perception and -intellect, through the effects of terror and overpowering awe, began -to flee from me; a voice, however, from which I obtained renovated -energy, came to my hearing: there was then some oil[444] given me to -drink out of a golden cup: I partook of it and found it of an -incomparable taste: they told me that it was the food of the people of -paradise. I next beheld _Ardi Behést_,[445] to whom I made my salam. -He said to me: ‘Place on the sacred fire wood free from moisture.’ -Surush then bore me off to _Kurutaman_, or ‘paradise,’[446] in the -light of which I became bewildered in astonishment: I knew none of the -precious stones of which it was composed. The angels, by the command -of the Almighty, took me round every part of it. I next came to a -place where I beheld an illustrious assemblage enveloped in _Khurah_, -that is, ‘radiance and pomp.’ _Surúsh Ashir_ said: ‘These are the -spirits of the munificent and noble-minded.’ After this I saw a great -multitude in all magnificence. Surúsh explained to me: ‘These are the -spirits of all who have observed the _Naú Roz_.’ Next them I beheld an -assemblage in the enjoyment of all magnificence and happiness. Surúsh -observed: ‘These are the spirits of just princes.’ After this I beheld -blessed spirits in boundless joy and power. Surush explained: ‘These -are the Dustúrs and Mobeds: my duty is to convey that class to this -honor.’ I next beheld a company of women rejoicing in the midst of -great pomp. Surúsh Ashú and Ardibahést observed: ‘These are the -spirits of women who were obedient to their husbands.’ I then beheld a -multitude of majestic and beautiful persons, seated along with angels. -Surúsh said: ‘this class consists of Hírbuds and Mobeds, the -attendants on fire-temples, and the observers of the _Yasht_ and -_Yazisht_ of the Amshasfands.’ After these I saw an armed assemblage -in a state of the highest joy. Surúsh informed me: ‘These are the -spirits of the champions who fought in the ways of God, maintaining -their country and the husbandmen in a state of prosperity and -tranquillity.’ I next beheld a great assemblage in the enjoyment of -all delight and gladness. Surúsh observed: ‘These are the spirits of -the slayers of the _Khurástár_ (or noxious animals).’[447] After this, -I witnessed a people given up to sporting and happiness. Surush -observed: ‘These are the spirits of the husbandmen, over whom -_Safándarmuz_ is set; he consequently presides over this class, as -they have propitiated him by their acts.’ I next beheld a great -company surrounded by all the appliances of enjoyment. Surúsh said: -‘These are the spirits of shepherds.’ After this, I beheld great -numbers in a state of repose and joy, and the elemental principles of -paradise standing before them. Surúsh observed: ‘These are the heads -of families, friends to building, who have improved the world by -gardens and water-courses, and held the elements in reverence.’ I next -came to another class, endowed with prophet-like radiance, of whom -Surúsh remarked: ‘These are the spirits of _Jádóngóis_.’ By -_Jádóngóis_ is meant one who solicits money from the wealthy to -promote the way of the Lord, and who expends it on noble foundations -and holy indigent persons. - -“What can I say concerning the black-eyed nymphs――the palaces, -offspring, and attendants――the drinks and viands?――any thing like -which I know not of in this elemental world.[448] - -“After this Surúsh and Ardibehést, taking me out of paradise, bore me -off to behold the punishments inflicted on those in hell. First of -all, I beheld a black and gloomy river of fetid water, with weeping -multitudes falling in and drowning. Surúsh said: ‘This water is -collected from the tears shed by relatives on the death of a person; -and those who are drowning are they whose relatives, after their -death, break out into mourning, weeping, and tears.’ I next proceeded -towards the bridge of judgment, where I beheld a spirit rent from the -body, and mourning for its separation: there arose a fetid gale, out -of which issued a gloomy figure, with red eye-balls, hooked nose, -hideous lips, teeth like columns, a head like the kettle of a -minaret,[449] long talons, spear-like fangs, snaky locks, and vomiting -out smoke. The alarmed spirit having asked, ‘Who art thou?’ he -answered, ‘I am the personification of thy acts and deeds.’ On saying -this, he threw his hands around the spirit’s neck, so that his -lamentations came to the bridge of judgment, which is sharper than a -razor: on this the spirit having gone a little way with great -difficulty, at last fell into the infernal regions. I then followed -him, accompanied by Súrush and Ardibehest: our road lay through snow, -ice, storms, intense cold, mephitic exhalations, and obscurity, along -a region full of pits: into these I looked, and there beheld countless -myriads of spirits suffering tortures. They all wailed bitterly, and -the darkness was so thick that one was unable to perceive the other, -or to distinguish his lamentation: three days such punishment is equal -to nine thousand years, and the same calculation applies to the other -pits, in all of which were serpents, scorpions, stinging and noxious -creatures: whatever spirit falls into them - - “Was stung by one and torn by another, - Was bit by this, and pierced by that.” - -“Surúsh having taken me below, I there beheld a spirit with a human -head and serpent-like body, surrounded by many demons who were -applying the torture to his feet, and smiting him in every direction -with hatchets, daggers, and maces, whilst noxious creatures were -biting him on all sides. Surúsh observed: ‘This was a man of vile -passions.’ I next saw a woman who held in her hand a cup filled with -blood and corrupted matter; demons kept striking her with clubs and -spears until she swallowed the nauseous draught, on which they -instantly replaced a similar bowl in her hands. Surúsh remarked: ‘This -woman, whilst laboring under periodical illness, approached the -elements, of fire and water.’ I then beheld a man wailing piteously, -whose head they were scalping with a poniard: Surúsh said: ‘This was a -shedder of innocent blood.’ I next saw a man who was forced to swallow -blood and corrupted matter, with which they were continually supplying -him. The demons in the mean time tortured him, and placed a heavy -mountain on his breast: Surúsh stated this to be ‘The spirit of a -dissolute man, who seduced the wives of other men.’ After this, I -beheld a spirit weeping through hunger and thirst; so intense was his -craving, that he drank his own blood and devoured his own flesh. -Surúsh stated: ‘This is the spirit of one who observed not the -_Báj_[450] when partaking of food,’” (Báj is a rite practised by -orthodox Parsees before meat, as has been explained under the head of -banquet) “‘and who on the day of Aban[451] partook of water, fruit, -and bread, so that the angels _Khurdád_ and _Murdád_ were displeased -with him.’ I next beheld a woman suspended by her breasts and noxious -creatures falling on her. Surúsh said: ‘this is a woman who deserted -her husband and went after another man.’ I then saw a great multitude -of spirits, furiously assailed by rapacious animals and noxious -creatures. Surúsh stated thus: ‘These are persons who adopted not the -_Kashti_[452] or sacred cincture as worn by professors of the -excellent faith.’ I next beheld a woman hung up, with her tongue -protruding from the hind part of the neck. Surúsh observed: ‘This is a -woman who obeyed not her husband, and replied to him with harsh -answers and opposition.’ I then saw a man eating with a ladle the most -noxious things, of which if he took too small a portion, demons smote -him with wooden clubs. Surúsh observed: ‘this is the spirit of one who -betrayed his trust.’ I after this beheld a man hung up, surrounded by -seventy demons, who were lashing him with serpents instead of -scourges; and meanwhile the serpents kept gnawing his flesh with their -fangs. Surúsh Ashú said: ‘This is a king who extorted money from his -subjects by torture.’ I next beheld a man with wide-opened mouth and -protruding tongue, - - “With serpents and scorpions covered all over, - The one lacerating with fangs, the others lashing with their tails. - -“Surúsh said: ‘This was a tale-bearer, who by his lies caused -dissension and strife among mankind.’ After this I saw a man, every -ligature and joint of whose body they were tearing asunder. Surúsh -said: ‘This person has slain many four-footed animals.’ I next beheld -a man exposed to body-rending torture, concerning whom Surúsh said: -‘This was a wealthy, avaricious man, who employed not his riches for -the useful purposes of either world.’ I then saw a person to whom were -offered all sorts of noxious creatures, whilst one foot was free from -all kind of suffering. Surúsh said concerning him: ‘This is the spirit -of a negligent person, who did not in the least attend to the concerns -of the world or the world to come. As he once passed along the road, -he observed a goat tied up in such a manner that it was unable to get -at its food: with that foot he tossed the forage towards the animal, -in recompense of which good act that foot is exempt from suffering.’ I -next beheld a person whose tongue was laid on a stone, and demons kept -beating it with another. Concerning him Surúsh observed: ‘This person -was an habitual slanderer and liar, through whose words people fell -into mischief.’ I then saw a woman whose breasts the demons were -grinding under a millstone. About her Surúsh observed: ‘This woman -produced abortion by means of drugs.’ I next beheld a man in whose -seven members worms had fixed themselves. Concerning him Surúsh said: -‘This person gave false witness for money, and derived his support -from that resource.’ After this I saw a man devouring the flesh of a -corpse and drinking human gore. Surúsh observed: ‘This is the spirit -of one who amassed wealth by unlawful means.’ I afterwards beheld a -great multitude with pallid faces, fetid bodies, and limbs covered -with worms. About these Surúsh Ashú observed: ‘These are hypocrites of -satanic qualities, whose hearts were not in accordance with their -words, and who led astray the professors of the excellent faith, -divesting themselves of all respect for religion and morality.’ I next -saw a man the members of whose body hell-hounds were rending asunder. -Concerning him Surúsh said: ‘This man was in the habit of slaughtering -water and land dogs.’ I next beheld a woman hurled into snow and -smitten by the guardians of fire. About her Surúsh said: ‘When this -woman combed herself, her hairs fell into the fire.’ After this I -beheld another woman tearing off with a poniard the flesh of her own -body and devouring it. Surush said: ‘This is an enchantress who used -to fascinate men.’ Next her I saw a man whom the demons forced by -blows to swallow blood, corrupted matter, and human flesh. Concerning -him Surúsh said: ‘This man was in the habit of casting dead bodies, -corrupted matter, nails, and hair into fire and water.’ I afterwards -beheld a person devouring the flesh and skin of a dead body. Surúsh -said: ‘This person defrauded the labourers of their hire.’ I next -beheld a man with a mountain on his back, whom with his load they -forced through terror into the midst of snows and ice. Surúsh -observed: ‘This was an adulterer, who took the wife from her husband.’ -I afterwards saw a number of ill-fated persons up to their necks in -ice and snow, before each of whom was a cup filled with gore, and -hair, and impurities, which, through terror of blows and clubs, they -were obliged to swallow. Surúsh observed: ‘These are persons who used -warm bathing along with the _Batardeen_ (or the enemies of the faith) -washing their bodies and heads in such unclean and polluted baths.’ I -then beheld a person groaning under the weight of a mountain. -Concerning him Surúsh said: ‘This man laid heavy taxes on the people, -established evil ordinances, and oppressed mankind.’ Next him I beheld -one digging up a mountain with his fingers and nails, whilst the -superintendent kept smiting him with a viper. Surúsh said: ‘This is a -man who by violence seized on the lands of others:’ - - “As long as this earth and place continue to exist, - So long, by way of retribution, shall this spirit be thus employed. - -I afterwards saw a man the flesh of whose shoulders and body they were -scraping off with a comb of iron. Concerning him Surúsh said: ‘This -man was an egregious violator of promises and breaker of engagements.’ -I then beheld a great multitude whose hands and feet they were smiting -with bludgeons, iron maces, and such like. Concerning these Surúsh -observed: ‘This class is composed of promise-breakers and the -violators of covenants, who maintained friendship with -_Darwands_,[453] or those hostile to the faith.’ Surúsh, Ashú, and -Ardibehest then led me from that abode of misery to _Girutuman_, ‘the -seat of supreme bliss,’ or ‘paradise on high,’ which is called ‘the -heaven of heavens.’ On beholding the light and splendor of the -righteous Lord, I became entranced, and this spirit-reviving voice -reached my ears: ‘Through thy virtuous words and actions, which have -been conformable to the excellent faith, joined to the co-operation -and energy of intellect, though hast resisted all the demons which -infest the body, and hast therefore attained to this rank.’ Surúsh -then taking me by the hand, said: ‘Communicate to mankind all thou -hast heard.’ He next took me down to paradise, where several spirits -received me and said: ‘Reveal these mysteries to our relations, that -they may beware of sin.’ I next came to the lunar mansion, where they -addressed me in the same manner. I afterwards reached the starry -mansion with the same two companions, and here also the spirits -advanced to receive me, saying: ‘Counsel our relations to make _Yasht_ -and _Yazisht_ (to pray in a low murmuring tone at meal-time) and to -cleave firmly to the festival of the _Naú Roz_, and the girding of the -cincture; had we observed these rites, we should not have remained in -this mansion, but gone on to Paradise.’ It appears to follow from what -has been stated, that the starry mansion or zodiacal sphere is below -that of the moon; the Yezdanians however say, that the starry mansion -signifies the mansion of the spirits who below the lunar sphere are -not exempted from sufferings, but are attached to the bodies of the -virtuous by means of the zodiacal signs.[454] - -“I next came to _Chínawad Pul_ (the bridge of judgment) where many -spirits thus addressed me: ‘Tell men to leave sons behind them in the -world, or otherwise they must, like us, remain here.’ - - “We behold paradise in distant perspective, - But are far removed from its enjoyment. - -“Another company of spirits said: ‘Let not men look at the wife or -mate of another; and let them hold up none to suspicion: otherwise -they must remain here like us, until our injured enemy comes hither -from the world: if he be propitiated, we may be delivered.’ - -“Surúsh and Ardibehest then brought me to the lower world and bade me -adieu.”[455] - - -When the scribe had written down all the words of Ardi Viraf, he read -them over to the great king, who thereupon duly promulgated the -excellent faith, and sent Mobeds to all the borders of Iran. - -After (the death of Ardashir) appeared the Mobed _Azarbad_,[456] the -son of _Marasfand_ (whose lineage by the father ascended to the -prophet Zardusht, and by his mother to king Gushtasp), from whom king -Shapur (the son of Ardeshir) and the military having demanded a -miracle in proof of the faith, the forty thousand wise men were again -assembled.[457] Azarbad, having performed his ablutions, lay down -before this great assemblage, whereupon they poured nine mans of -melted brass upon his bared breast, but, through the divine glory, his -person received no injury. On beholding this, all those who before had -been unbelievers, embraced the faith. From the time of Azarbád the -Dustúrs of all succeeding kings were of his lineage.[458] - -The professors of the excellent faith and the Moslem historians agree, -that in Kashmir or Kashmar,[459] a place celebrated for female beauty, -a dependency of Naishapur, there was formerly a cypress[460] planted -by Zardusht for king Gushtasp, the like of which was never seen before -or since, for beauty, height, or straightness: mention of this tree -having been made at the court of Mutawakkal[461] when he was engaged -in building the _Sarman raï_, or _Samarah_[462] palace in the -Jâafriyah,[463] the Khalif felt a great desire to behold it: and as it -was not in his power to go to Khorasan, he wrote to _Abdallah Táhir -Zavalimin_, “possessor of happiness,” to have the tree cut down, -fastened on rollers, and sent to Baghdád. When intelligence of this -came to the people of the district and the inhabitants of Khorasan, -they assembled at the foot of the tree, imploring for mercy with tears -and lamentations, and exhibiting a scene of general desolation. The -professors of the excellent faith offered the governor fifty thousand -dinars to spare the tree, but the offer was refused. When the cypress -was felled, it caused great detriment to the buildings and -water-courses of the country; the birds of different kinds which had -built their nests on it issued forth in such countless myriads as to -darken the air, screaming out in agony with various tones of distress: -the very oxen, sheep, and other animals which reposed under its -sheltering shade, commenced such piteous moans of woe that it was -impossible to listen to them. The expense of conveying the trunk to -Baghdad was five hundred thousand dinars; the very branches loaded one -thousand and three hundred camels. When the tree had reached one -station from the Jaafriyah quarter, on that same night, Mutawakkal the -Abasside was cut in pieces by his own guards,[464] so that he never -beheld the tree. Some Muhammedan writers state the circumference of -the trunk at twenty-seven _táziáynah_, each a cubit and a quarter -long, and also that fourteen hundred and fifty years had elapsed from -the time of its being planted to the year 232 of the Hejirah (846, A. -D.).[465] The Behdínians say that Zardusht brought with him from -paradise a branch which he planted at the gate of the fire temple of -Kashmir, and which grew up into this tree: but some sages maintain -that, according to the intelligent, this tradition signifies: 1. that -there is in vegetables a simple uncompounded soul; and 2. that -paradise is the world of beings of that class. Some Yezdanians say -that Zardusht prayed the superintending lord of cypress-trees, whom -they call _Azrawán_, to nourish carefully the offspring of this shoot. -They also relate, on the authority of a holy _Hakim_, “doctor,”[466] -who said: “I saw the Lord of the cypress, and he declared: ‘I have -given orders to slay Mutawakkal for the crime of cutting down this -tree.’” Muhammed Kuli Salim also says: - - “No person wishes to see his own nursling enfeebled. - Water and fire are ever at enmity with chips and leaves.” - -The Behdínians maintain that Ahriman is the production of Time; and -that the angels, heavens, and stars (always) were, and will (for ever) -be: but that the three kingdoms of nature are a creation. Also that -the period of the present creation is twelve thousand years, at the -expiration of which comes the resurrection, when God will raise up all -mankind and render this elemental world a glorious paradise, and -annihilate Ahriman, his worshippers, and hell itself. The Dustúr Shah -Zadáh says, in the volume of the _Sad Der_, or “the hundred -gates,”[467] the excellent faith has been received from the prophet -Zardusht, the son of Purshasp, the son of Khajarasp, the son of -Hujjús, the son of Asfantaman: on him the Almighty graciously bestowed -the _Avesta_ and _Zand_, and through divine knowledge he comprehended -all things from eternity to infinity. This is the hundred-gated city -constructed from the world of truth, that is, the celestial volume. - - “The mighty, through means of the Asta, Zand, and Pazand, - Have constructed on its outside a hundred gates. - Behold what a system of belief Zardusht has introduced, - In which a hundred gates give admission to his city of Faith.” - - -GATE THE FIRST is the belief and acknowledgment of Zardusht’s -prophetic character; for when the spirit on the fourth night (after -quitting the body) comes to the bridge of Chinavad, where _Mihr Ized_ -and _Rash Ized_ take account of its actions, in the _Kirfah_, or “good -deeds” exceed the sins by one hair’s point, they bear the spirit off -to paradise, but always on the condition of having professed the faith -of Zardusht. - - -GATE THE SECOND. It is necessary to be ever vigilant, and always -looking on a trifling sin as one of magnitude, to flee far from it; -because, if the virtuous deeds exceed the sinful acts by even the -point of one of the hairs of the eye-lashes, the spirit goes to -paradise; but should the contrary be the case, it descends to hell. - - -GATE THE THIRD. The pursuits of a man should be of a virtuous -tendency; because, whilst thus engaged, if he be overpowered by -robbers or foes, he shall receive fourfold in paradise; but if he be -slain in any vain pursuit, it is the retribution due to his acts, and -hell is his abode. - - -GATE THE FOURTH. A man must not despair of God’s mercy; for Zardusht -says: “I beheld one whose body, with the exception of one foot, was -entirely in hell; but that foot was outside. The Lord said: ‘This -person, who ruled over thirty-three cities, never performed good -deeds; but having one day observed a sheep tied up at a distance from -her food, he with this foot pushed the grass near her.’”[468] - - -GATE THE FIFTH. Let all men exert themselves to observe the rites of -_Yasht_,[469] and the _Naú Roz_,[470] and if they cannot themselves -perform these duties, let them purchase the agency of another. - - -GATE THE SIXTH. Let men know that the meritorious works are six in -number: 1. the observance of the _Gahambara_, or “six periods of -creation;” 2. that of the _Favardigan_, or “five supplementary days of -the year,” with that of _Yashtan_, “or praying in a low murmuring -voice at meals;” 3. propitiating the spirits of thy father, mother, -and other relations; 4. offering up supplications to the sun three -times every day; 5. offering up prayers to the moon three times every -month, that is, the beginning, middle, and last day of the moon; 6. -offering up supplications in due form every year. - - -GATE THE SEVENTH. When sneezing comes on, repeat the entire of the -forms called _Ita ahu virio_,[471] and the _Ashem Vuhu_. - - -GATE THE EIGHTH. Be obedient to the Dustúrs and give them one-tenth of -thy wealth; as that is a most meritorious work, or _Kirfah_.[472] - - -GATE THE NINTH. A person should avoid all practices not sanctioned by -the laws of nature, and must look on them as accursed: let all those -found guilty of such deeds be put to death. This description of -criminals are equally guilty with the usurper Zohak, and Alkus,[473] -and Sarúrak,[474] and Afrasiab, and Turbaraturas.[475] - - -GATE THE TENTH. It is incumbent on every man and woman to tie on the -_Kashti_.[476] By Kashti is meant a woollen cincture girded round the -waist, in which they make four knots: the first to signify the unity -of God; the second, the certainty of the faith; the third, that -Zardusht was the prophet of God; the fourth to imply, “that I will to -the utmost of my power ever do what is good.” - - -GATE THE ELEVENTH. Keep the fire burning, and let it not consume any -thing impure. - - -GATE THE TWELFTH. Let not the shroud of the deceased be new, but let -it be clean and old. - - -GATE THE THIRTEENTH. The good man gives joy to the spirits of his -father and mother, by celebrating the _Darun miezd_[477] and the -_Afernigán_,[478] or “funereal “repasts.” The Darun is a prayer -recited in praise of the Almighty and of Azar: when they breathe out -prayers in a murmuring tone over viands, they are said to be Yeshtah. -Afrinigan also means one of the twenty Nosks of the Zand. - - -GATE THE FOURTEENTH. Let them repeat the Ita Ahu three times over the -collected nail-parings, and having each time drawn a circular line -around them, let earth be poured on them with the shears, or let them -be taken to some mountain.[479] - - -GATE THE FIFTEENTH. Whatever pleasing object meets the true believer’s -sight, he repeats over it the name of God. - - -GATE THE SIXTEENTH. In the house of a pregnant woman keep the fire in -without ceasing; and when the child is born, let not the lamp be -extinguished during three days and nights. - -They say that, on the birth of the prophet Zardusht, there came fifty -demons with the design of slaying him; but they were unable to do him -any injury as there was a fire kept up in the house. - - -GATE THE SEVENTEENTH. On arising from sleep, bind the Kashti, without -doing which enter upon no pursuit whatever. - - -GATE THE EIGHTEENTH. Let the tooth-pick, after having been used, be -concealed in a wall. - - -GATE THE NINETEENTH. They give their son and daughter in marriage at -an early period; as the person who has no son cannot pass over the -bridge of _Chinavad_; let whoever is in that state adopts some one; if -he should not find it feasible, it will then be incumbent on his -relations and the Dustúr to fix on a son for him. - - -GATE THE TWENTIETH. They esteem husbandry the best of all professions, -and regard the husbandman with respect and honor. - - -GATE THE TWENTY-FIRST. It is meet to give good viands to the -professors of the pure faith. - - -GATE THE TWENTY-SECOND. At the time of eating bread it is necessary to -perform _Váj_:[480] and at the time of _Maizad_ and _Afrinigán_ to -keep the lips closed; the true believer repeats the entire of the -_Esha âad avizmidi_ three times, and then eats bread; and when he -washes his mouth, he repeats _Ashem Vuhu_ four times, and the _Ita ahu -virio_ twice. It is to be remarked, that _Wáj_ or _Váj_ is the -_Barsom_,[481] which consists of small twigs of the same length, -without knots, taken from the pomegranate, tamarisk, or _Hum_; these -they cut with a _Barsomchin_, or knife with an iron handle. Having -first washed the knife carefully, they recite the appointed prayers, -after which, having cut off the Barsom with the Barsomchin, they wash -the Barsomdan, or Barsom-holder, into which they put these small -twigs. At the time of worship, whilst reading the Zand, and during -ablution or eating, they hold in their hand a few of these twigs, -according to the number required in each of these actions. - - -GATE THE TWENTY-THIRD. The wealthy man bestows alms on the indigent -Durvesh; he also practises _Jadongoi_, which consists in this, -whatever donations the Behdínians make to the fire-temples, or to -deserving objects, are by that person caused to be expended in the -manner desired. - - -GATE THE TWENTY-FOURTH. Beware of sin, particularly the day on which -thou eatest flesh, as flesh-meat is the nutriment of Ahriman. If, -after partaking of meat thou committest sin, whatever sins the animal -has committed in this world shall be imputed to thee: for example, the -kick of the horse, and the goring of the ox with his horns. - - -GATE THE TWENTY-FIFTH. Know that in thy faith there is no fasting, -except that of avoiding sin:[483] in which sense thou must fast the -whole year, and not remain hungry from morn until night, and style -that fasting. Thou must endeavor to keep thy members free from sin, -and there will be then no occasion to keep the lips closed against -meat and drink; but it is altogether necessary to keep them closed -against uttering any evil speech. - - -GATE THE TWENTY-SIXTH. As soon as a child is born let them cause it to -taste milk. - - -GATE THE TWENTY-SEVENTH. When going to bed, repeat the forms which -commence with the Ita; that is, repeat to the end the _Itá Ahu -Viríyo_, the _Eshim Vahu_, etc., etc.; repenting of thy sins of sight -and hearing, known and unknown, committed or meditated, and imploring -forgiveness; also, when thou turnest from one side to the other, -repeat the whole of the Eshim. - - -GATE THE TWENTY-EIGHTH. When thou enterest into a covenant either with -one of the pure faith or an unbeliever (_Durwand_), break it not, but -maintain it inviolate. - - -GATE THE TWENTY-NINTH. When the believer’s son attains the age of -fifteen, the father appoints a Dustúr for his guidance, without whose -direction and counsel he does nothing; for no good work is acceptable -to God, unless the Dustúr be satisfied; he truly possesses such -dignity in the sight of God, that he can remit one-third of any -person’s sins. Note, that the title of Dustúr is given to a spiritual -director, or one skilled in the faith of Zaratusht. - - -GATE THE THIRTIETH. When any undertaking occurs, and thou knowest not -whether engaging in it be good or sinful, desist, and defer the -enterprise until thou hast consulted the Dustúr. - - -GATE THE THIRTY-FIRST. The believer undertakes nothing on his own -experience merely, without previously investigating its nature through -his Dustúr, his relation, and the experience of the intelligent. - - -GATE THE THIRTY-SECOND. Whoever studies the Avesta must learn to read -it in the exact words: he must also meditate on it continually; for -should it depart from his memory, he is guilty of sin. In ancient -times, whoever had learned the Avesta and forgotten it, was not -permitted to join the congregation, until he had again made himself -master of it: nay, they threw bread before him as they would to dogs. - - -GATE THE THIRTY-THIRD. It behoves a man to be liberal, showing favor -to the Arzan, or deserving objects, for this only is profitable. - - -GATE THE THIRTY-FOURTH. The religious pour not out water at night, -particularly towards the _Wakhtar_, or “east;” but should it be -indispensable, the believer, at the time of throwing it out, repeats -the form of words commencing with the _Ita_, as far as enjoined. -Neither does he draw water from the well at night; but when there is -an inevitable necessity for it, he recites the formula of the Ita, as -enjoined in their books. They seldom drink water at night; but if it -be unavoidably necessary to drink, they fetch water from the well: -moreover, they never pour out much water. - - -GATE THE THIRTY-FIFTH. When they eat bread, they lay by three morsels -for the dogs, and never ill use these animals. - - -GATE THE THIRTY-SIXTH. When a cock crows out of season, they kill him -not, but bring another to his aid, for the fowl having seen a _Darji_ -(demon) or some approaching calamity, gives notice of it.[484] - - -GATE THE THIRTY-SEVENTH. If in any place a person who is destitute of -fear should deposit a _Nisa_, or “carcase” under ground, expose and -bring it forth. - - -GATE THE THIRTY-EIGHTH. It is by no means meet to slay animals in -profusion, as every hair of theirs will in the other world be as a -sword to the destroyer’s body: but the slaughter of sheep is by far -the most criminal; for they are of the _Sardah_,[485] or “primary -genus.” This prohibition includes the goat, the kid, and the lamb; the -cow and the horse; also the crowing cock, which during that time is as -a drum: nay, it is equally improper to slay the cock which crows not; -but should it be indispensably necessary to kill him, it will be -proper to tie his head (that is, to perform the rite of Yashtan over -his head).[486] - - -GATE THE THIRTY-NINTH. When thou art about to wash the face, join thy -lips, and recite once the formula of the _Ashim Vuhu_ as far as is -prescribed; then wash thy face; and when thou shavest, recite the -prayer of the _Kimna_ and _Mazda_[487] as far as the appointed place. - - -GATE THE FORTIETH. Whoever performs _Barashnom_[488] must be good in -word and deed, for otherwise he is deserving of death. Whoever comes -to the age of fifteen and performs not this rite, renders whatever he -lays his hand on impure like himself. Note, that _Barashnom_ signifies -the purification of one’s self by prayer. - - -GATE THE FORTY-FIRST. On the arrival of the Farvardigán, the believer -performs the _Darún Yezd_, _Yazish_, and _Afrín_ during ten days. The -Farvardigán are five damsels which spin, weave, and sew celestial -garments: their names are _Ahnavad_, _Ashnavad_, _Isfintamad_, -_Kukhashatar_, _Vahshúshpúsh_.[489] Farvardigan[490] is the name of -the five supplementary or intercalary days of the Persian year. When -the spirit quits this world it is naked; but whoever has duly -performed the Farvardigán obtains from them royal robes and celestial -ornaments. - -According to the Yezdánián, these five damsels signify wisdom, -heroism, continence, justice, and intellect;[491] and in other -passages they call them the five senses. - - -GATE THE FORTY-SECOND. The true believer must beware of associating -with those of a different faith; let him not drink out of the same cup -with them. If an unbeliever pollute a cup made of brass, it must be -washed three times: but if it be of earth, it cannot become pure. - - -GATE THE FORTY-THIRD. Keep up the fire in thy house, and at night -light it up. - - -GATE THE FORTY-FOURTH. Shew honor to thy instructor, father, and -mother; as otherwise in this world distress shall be thy portion; and -in the next, hell. - - -GATE THE FORTY-FIFTH. A woman, in her periodical illness, must not -direct her eyes to the heaven or the stars; to running water or a -Mindáshú; that is, a pure or celestial man. She is to drink water out -of any vessel except one of earth. When she eats bread, her hand is to -be folded in the sleeve of her dress,[492] and she is to wear a veil -on her head. - - -GATE THE FORTY-SIXTH. Refrain from Hamiyál, which means calumny, -treachery, and adultery: for if the woman’s husband forgive not the -adulterer, he cannot, whatever may be his good works, behold the face -of paradise. - - -GATE THE FORTY-SEVENTH. The believer must slay the _Kharástár_, or -“noxious creatures.” Of these it is most meritorious to destroy -water-frogs, serpents, scorpions, flies, and ants. According to the -tenets professed by the true believers, that is, the _Yazdáníán_ and -_Abadián_, it is a meritorious work to destroy any creature which is -injurious to animal life or oppressive to the animal creation: but the -destruction of any creature which is not injurious to animal life, is -not only improper, but the unjust oppressor draws down retribution on -himself. The Yezdáníán maintain, that whenever in ancient records the -slaughter of a harmless animal is mentioned, the expression is used in -an enigmatical sense. - - -GATE THE FORTY-EIGHTH. It is not proper to walk barefooted. - - -GATE THE FORTY-NINTH. Repent without ceasing: for unless attention be -paid to this, thy sin accumulates every year, and becomes more -aggravated. If, which God forbid! thou commit a sin, go before the -Dustúr; and if thou find him not, to the Hírbud (or minister attending -on the sacred fire); and if thou meet him not, repair to some -professor of the pure faith; and if thou find not such a one, declare -thy repentance before the majesty of the great light. In like manner, -at the moment of departing from this world, let a man declare his -contrition, and if he be unable, let his son, relative, or those -present, perform this rite of penance at that time. - - -GATE THE FIFTIETH. When a son or daughter attains the age of fifteen, -it becomes necessary to bind the sacred cincture about the waist, as -this forms the bond of duty. - - -GATE THE FIFTY-FIRST. If a child should die, from the first day of its -decease during a space of seven years, “without the expression of -grief, recite the Darún of its angel.” On the fourth night after its -decease, it is necessary to recite with _Yasht_, the Darún, or prayer -of the angel Surúsh. Note, Yasht is the name given to one of the -twenty-one Nosks of the Zand,[493] which is recited for the souls of -the deceased: this they also repeat in the _Gahanbars: Nosk_ also -signifies a part or section. - - -GATE THE FIFTY-SECOND. When thou placest on the fire a cauldron for -dressing food, it must be of a large size, and two thirds of it -without water, so that when it boils, the water may not fall over on -the fire. - - -GATE THE FIFTY-THIRD.[494] When they remove fire from one place to -another, they lay it apart for a short time, until its place becomes -cool; having taken care not to leave it heated, they bear the fire to -its destined place. - - -GATE THE FIFTY-FOURTH.[495] The true believers wash the face every -morning with the _Ab-í-zúr_, or “water of power,” and afterwards with -pure water.[496] After this they recite the formula of the _Kimna va -Mazda_,[497] and then wash the hands; this rite they call _Pavaj_; but -if they wash not the hands in the _Ab-í-zúr_, their recitation is not -accepted. - - -GATE THE FIFTY-FIFTH. The faithful instruct their sons in the -knowledge of religion, and hold in high honor the Kirbud who teaches -them. - - -GATE THE FIFTY-SIXTH. On the return of the day of _Khurdád_ in the -month of Farvardín (the 6th of March), they collect in one place a -portion of all the fruits they can find. The true believers then -continue to offer them up and to pray over them, repeating the praises -of the Lord, in order that their condition may be improved that year; -as on this day the angels give nutriment to mankind. When any one has -thus prayed, the Amshaspand Khurdád makes intercession for him: this -prayer is synonymous with _Khusnuman_.[498] - - -GATE THE FIFTY-SEVENTH. Whenever any one sets out on a journey, he -must celebrate once the _Darún Yeshté_. In ancient times, when they -set out on an excursion of even twelve parasangs, they performed the -same ceremony.[499] - - -GATE THE FIFTY-EIGHTH. If any one have not a son, let him adopt one; -and let the adopted son regard him as a father. - - -GATE THE FIFTY-NINTH. Whoever has performed the rites of Yasht and -Naú-Roz, cannot immediately after celebrate the Darún Yeshté: he first -prays mentally to Ormuzd, and eats bread; and then performs the rites -of mental prayer and the Darun. - - -GATE THE SIXTIETH. It is improper, whilst in an erect posture, to make -water; it is therefore necessary to sit down (stoop) and force it to -some distance, repeating the Avesta mentally. The religious man is -then to advance three paces, and repeat once the formula of the _Yethá -áhú viríyo_ and the _Eshem Vahu_, as far as prescribed. On coming out, -he is to repeat the Eshem once; the formula of the Homoctanne twice; -that of the _Hokhshéthrôtemâé_ three times, and that of the _Yethá_, -etc., four times; and to repeat to the end the formula of the _Etha -aad iezmede_.[500] - - -GATE THE SIXTY-FIRST. Slay not the _Hujjah_ or weasel, for it is the -destroyer of serpents. - - -GATE THE SIXTY-SECOND. Kill not the water-dog, or otter, but if thou -perceive him far out of the water, take him back to his river.[501] - - -GATE THE SIXTY-THIRD. The believer performs during his life the rites -which ensure his salvation: the propitiation of the Ized Surúsh is a -sacred duty; it is therefore advisable that every person should -perform it duly in his own life-time.[502] - - -GATE THE SIXTY-FOURTH. When any one departs from this world, the -survivors during three days propitiate Surúsh, light a fire for the -deceased, and recite the Avesta: as the spirit of the deceased remains -there three days, it is therefore necessary to offer up three Darúns -to Surúsh Ized. On the fourth night, recite one of them to propitiate -Rash and Astad (the angels of the 18th and 26th days of every month); -another for that of the other heavenly beings; along with the fourth -Darún produce complete dresses, the best and most splendid in thy -power. These they style _Ashudád_, or heaven-bestowed.[503] - - -GATE THE SIXTY-FIFTH. Women are not enjoined to perform any of these -Niyayish, except that they should go three times into their husband’s -presence, and inquire what his wishes may be. They must never, either -by night or day, avert the face from their husband’s command: which -obedience on their part is serving God.[504] - - -GATE THE SIXTY-SIXTH. The pure faith springs from this belief, that -God has delivered us from affliction (in the world to come): and -should circumstances occur to any believer which would necessarily -lead him to apostatize from the true faith, let all exert themselves -to the utmost to aid him, so that he may remain unshaken in the true -religion. - - -GATE THE SIXTY-SEVENTH. Believers never utter a falsehood, although -through it they might attain to worldly eminence. - - -GATE THE SIXTY-EIGHTH. They make truth their profession, and remain -free from the degradation of _Goyastah_ (or _Gogestah_).[505] - - -GATE THE SIXTY-NINTH. The believers beware of any intercourse with a -courtesan or unchaste woman, also of voluntary degradation -(connivance) and adultery. For when a libertine engages in improper -correspondence with a woman, she becomes an abomination to her -husband; and if, after proof of her misconduct, the husband resume his -intimacy with such a wife, he then becomes a _Rúspi_, or utterly -contemptible. - - -GATE THE SEVENTIETH. If any one steal property to the amount of one -direm, they take from the thief two direms, cut off the lobes of his -ears, inflict on him ten blows of a stick, and dismiss him after one -hour’s imprisonment. Should he a second time commit a similar act, and -steal to the amount of a direm, they make him refund two, cut off his -ears, inflict twenty blows, and detain him in prison two hours: should -he after that steal three direms or two dangs, they cut off his right -hand; and if he steal five hundred direms, they put him to death. - - -GATE THE SEVENTY-FIRST. Beware of open and secret sin: abstain from -bad sights and thoughts. Offer up thy grateful prayers to the Lord, -the most just and pure Ormuzd, the supreme and adorable God, who thus -declared to his prophet Zardusht: “Hold it not meet to do unto others -what thou wouldst not have done to thyself: do that unto the people -which, when done to thyself, proves not disagreeable to thyself.” - - -GATE THE SEVENTY-SECOND. Direct the Hirbud to sanctify for thee an -oblation or Darún once every day: if not he, then thyself. It is to be -observed that Yazish has the sense of _Yashtan_; also that _Darún_ -(the first letter with _Zemma_) means a prayer in praise of the Lord -and of fire, which being recited by the professors of the pure faith, -they breathe over the viands; whatever has been thus breathed over -they call _Yashtah_: for _Yashtan_ signifies the reciting of a prayer. - - -GATE THE SEVENTY-THIRD. Let women perform the rites of oblation in the -month of Aban (the 8th month), so that they may be purified from their -illness and attain paradise. - - -GATE THE SEVENTY-FOURTH. Beware of committing adultery; for when the -wife of a stranger has been four times visited by a strange man, she -becomes accursed to her husband: to put such a woman to death is more -meritorious than slaying beasts of prey. - - -GATE THE SEVENTY-FIFTH. A woman during her illness is not to look at -the fire, to sit in water, behold the sun, or hold conversation with a -man. Two women, during their illness, are not to sleep in the same -bed, or look up to heaven. Women in this state are to drink out of -leaden vessels, and not to lay their (bare) hands on bread. The -drinking-vessel is to be half-filled with water, and not filled up to -the brim. They are to fold their hand in the sleeve of their mantle -and then lay hold of the vessel: they must not sit in the sun. On the -birth of a child, the infant is to undergo ablution along with the -mother. - - -GATE THE SEVENTY-SIXTH. A fire is not to be lighted in a situation -exposed to the sun’s rays: also place not over the fire any thing -through the interstices of which the sun may shine. But before the -time of Mah Abád it was held praiseworthy to light a fire in face of -the great luminary for the purpose of making fumigations. - - -GATE THE SEVENTY-SEVENTH. They show the Nisa or dead body to a dog, at -the moment the person gives up the soul:[506] and again when they -convey it to the burial-place. When removing the body, the bearers -fasten their hands together with a cord, so that it comes to all their -hands and keeps them close to each other; they bear the body along in -perfect silence; and if the deceased be a woman advanced in her -pregnancy, there are then four bearers instead of two. According to -the precepts of Mah Abád, if the woman be pregnant, they are to -extract the fœtus and bring it up: the same holds good respecting all -animals. Finally, when the professors of the pure faith have conveyed -the corpse to the _Dad Gah_, or “place for depositing the dead,” the -bearers wash themselves and put on fresh garments. - - -GATE THE SEVENTY-EIGHTH. It is necessary to beware of (contact with) -the wooden frame on which the dead body has been carried or washed; -also of that on which any one has been hung; or one touched by a woman -during her illness. - - -GATE THE SEVENTY-NINTH. If, during a malady, the physician prescribe -the eating of any dead animal, let the patient comply without -repugnance and partake of it. - - -GATE THE EIGHTIETH. A dead body is not to be committed to water or -fire.[507] - - -GATE THE EIGHTY-FIRST. If any one force a professor of the pure faith -to partake of the flesh of a dead body, or even throw it at him, he -must perform the Barashnom and recite the _Patet Iran_. Note: that is, -he must repent, and implore pardon, and exert himself in good works, -that he may escape going to hell.[508] - - -GATE THE EIGHTY-SECOND. If any animal partake of a dead body, it -continues unclean during a whole year.[509] - - -GATE THE EIGHTY-THIRD. Nothing should be given (to the unworthy) -unless through dread of the oppressor: that is, if believers apprehend -not danger from the sinner, and do not entertain alarm at his power of -doing them injury, they are not to give him any thing. - - -GATE THE EIGHTY-FOURTH. In the morning, on arising from sleep, rub thy -hands with something, then thrice wash thy face, thy arms from the -wrist to the elbow, and thy foot as far as the leg; reciting the -_Avesta_ at the same time. If the believer cannot find water, he is -then permitted to use dust. - - -GATE THE EIGHTY-FIFTH. When the husbandman introduces water for the -irrigation of his own fields, he carefully observes that there be not -a dead body in the stream. - - -GATE THE EIGHTY-SIXTH. A woman after parturition must during forty -days beware of using vessels of wood or earth, and is not to cross the -threshold of the house. She is then to wash her head: during all this -time her husband is not to approach her. - - -GATE THE EIGHTY-SEVENTH. If a woman be delivered of a dead child -previous to four months’ gestation, as it is without a soul, it is not -to be regarded as a dead body; but should this occur after the term of -four months, it is then to be looked on as a dead body, and to be -conveyed to burial with the usual ceremonies. - - -GATE THE EIGHTY-EIGHTH. When a death occurs, the people of the house -and the relatives of the deceased are to abstain from meat during -three days. - - -GATE THE EIGHTY-NINTH. It is incumbent on the professors of the true -faith to be liberal, generous, and munificent; for God hath declared: -“Paradise is the abode of the liberal.” - - -GATE THE NINETIETH. Reciting the Eshem Vehu[510] is attended with -countless merits: it is necessary to do this at the time of eating -bread, of going to sleep, at midnight, on turning from one side to the -other, and at the time of rising up in the morning. - - -GATE THE NINETY-FIRST. You must not put off the good work of to-day -until the morrow, for God declared thus to Zardusht: “Putting off the -duties of this day until the following, brings with it cause of -regret. O Zardusht! no one in the world is superior to thee in my -sight. For thy sake I have even created it;[511] and princes earnestly -desire to diffuse the true faith in thy life-time. From the age of -Kaíomars to thine, three thousand years have elapsed;[512] and from -thee to the resurrection is a period of three thousand years: thus I -have created thee in the middle, as that point is most worthy of -admiration. Moreover I have rendered obedient to thee king Gushtasp, -the wisest and most prudent sovereign of the age; whose eminence -arises from science and perfect morals, not merely from high birth and -lineage. I have also given thee a volume such as the _Avesta_, and in -like manner a perspicuous commentary on it. Expect not that, after -thou hast passed away, others will perform good works for thee. Know -that Gokhastah or Ahriman has expressly appointed two demons, named -Tardiness and Procrastination, for putting off the performance of good -works to a remote and future period.” - - -GATE THE NINETY-SECOND. Whatever is polluted by a dead body must be -purified by _Pávyáb_ water according to this rule: gold once; silver -twice; tin and copper thrice; steel four times; stone six times; -earthen and wooden vessels must be thrown away. _Pávyáb_ signifies to -wash with certain forms of prayer.[513] - - -GATE THE NINETY-THIRD. Shew vigilant attention to the fire of _Adar -Behrám_, and to his attendant (genii); light up the fire every night -and cast perfumes into it. - -Note: Var (Adar) Behrám[514] is the name of the angel, the lord of -victory, and the bestower of triumph.[515] - - -GATE THE NINETY-FOURTH. The _Gáhámbars_, which are six in number, must -be observed, because the Almighty created the world in six periods or -times, the commencement of each period having a particular name; in -order to celebrate each of which commencements, they pass five days in -festivity and rejoicing. According to the statement in the _Zand_, the -righteous Hormuzd created the whole world in the space of one year. - -_The first Gáhámbar_ is called _Mídúyzaram_, as on the day _Khúr_ (the -11th of the month) _Ardibehisht_, God commenced the creation of the -heavens, which was terminated in forty-five days. - -_The second Gáhambár_, called _Midyúshaham_, began on the day of -_Khúr_, in the old month of _Tir_, in sixty days from which God -completed the creation of the waters. - -_The third Gáhambár, Pitishahím_, commences on the day of _Ashtád_ -(the 26th) of the old _Shahrivár_, in seventy-five days from which God -terminated the creation of the earth. - -_The fourth Gáhambár_, called _Ayad sahrím_, begins on the _Ashtád_ of -the old month of _Mihr_, in thirty days from which the creation of all -plants and trees was completed. - -_The fifth Gahambar_, named _Mídyárím_, begins on the _Miher_ of the -old month _Ardí_ (November); God created from this day, in eighty -days, all the animals. - -_The sixth Gahambar, Hamshpata mihdim_,[516] beginning on the day of -_Ahnavad_, the first of the five intercalary or surreptitious days, -reckoning from which the Almighty terminated the creation of the human -race in seventy-five days. Tradition thus ascribes to Jemshid the -origin of the festival of the Gáhambár. In the _Sad-Dár_ we find it -recorded, that the demon one day came to Jemshid’s palace, and the -king, as usual, sent him to the kitchen to satisfy his hunger. The -demon having devoured all that was there, and also swallowed up -whatever they brought him beside, was still unsatisfied. On beholding -this, Jemshid cried out to the Lord, and the most righteous God sent -the angel Behrám (or Jabrael) to say thus to the king: “Slaughter the -red ox, on which pour vinegar, rue, and garlic; take it when boiled -out of the cauldron, and serve it up to the demon.” When they had done -thus, the demon having tasted one morsel of it, fled and disappeared, -from which day they instituted the festival of the _Gáhambár_. - -The Abádiyán say, with respect to the creation, that the actions of -God are not circumscribed by time. It must however be acknowledged -that Jemshid first established this festival. In the first Gáhambár, -Jemshid, by the command of the Almighty, began to depict on the -ceiling of his palace the representation of the heavens, which -undertaking was finished in forty-five days. Secondly, on the _Khúr_ -of _Tír_ he was commanded by the Lord to introduce water into his -palace, gardens, city, and cultivated grounds, which work was -completed in the course of sixty days. Thirdly, on the _Ashtád_ of -_Shahrivár_, by order of the Almighty (whose name be glorified!) he -cleared the surface of the grounds and palace, and embellished them -exceedingly; he levelled the place of exercise in front of his palace, -built houses, and laid out in due order the city and its streets; all -which was completed in seventy-five days. Fourthly, on the _Ashtád_ of -_Mihr_, he began to ascertain the properties of all vegetable -productions, and completed the embellishment of his garden, and -terminated the entire in thirty days. He next, on the day of _Mihr_ in -the month of _Dáí_, collected all species of animals in his garden and -assigned their suitable employments to each: to the ox and the ass to -carry burdens; to the horse to serve for riding, and so forth; which -arrangements were completed in seventy days. Lastly, on the day of -_Ahnavad_, he summoned mankind to appear in his presence, and assigned -them their respective occupations; the details of which were finished -in the course of seventy days. He then proclaimed: “The Lord has -created all these things through me;” and commanded five days to be -set apart for rejoicing at the beginning of each Gáhambár. As to the -tradition of the demon’s appearing and eating up whatever he found, it -is thus explained: by the demon is meant, the depraved sensual -appetite, which loves to eat, sleep, shed blood, and such like, and is -never satiated with such pursuits; but when the spiritual Jemshid -prayed to the Lord, the Jabriel of intellect came with this divine -communication: “Slay the sensual appetite (which is typified by the -ox), that is, indulge it not in the excesses it demands; next apply to -the cauldron of the body the vinegar of abstinence, the garlic of -reflection, and the rue of silence; then serve up a portion of this -food to the Satan-like propensities, that the demon may flee away.” On -doing this, he was delivered from the presence of the evil one. Such -was the enigma propounded to the people by Zardusht respecting the -Gáhambár, and such the solution of it as given by the Abádián -professors, who have interpreted in a similar manner the whole of -Zardusht’s discourses, which were couched under this enigmatical form. - - -GATE THE NINETY-FIFTH. When any one does good to another, the latter -should not forget his benefactor’s goodness. - - -GATE THE NINETY-SIXTH. The believers make _Níyáyish_ to the sun three -times every day: they also perform the same to the moon and to fire. - - -GATE THE NINETY-SEVENTH. They weep not after the deceased, as the -tears thus shed are collected and form a barrier before the bridge of -_Chinavad_, or “of judgment,” and prevent the deceased from passing: -but, on reading the _Vasta_ and _Zend_, they can pass over.[517] - - -GATE THE NINETY-EIGHTH. Whoever comes into the presence of the -Dustúrs, Mobeds, or Kirbuds, listens to what they say, and rejects it -not although painful to him. - - -GATE THE NINETY-NINTH. The professor of the true religion ought to -understand thoroughly the characters of the _Avesta_ and the _Zend_. - - -GATE THE HUNDREDTH. The Mobeds must not instruct a stranger in the -Pehlevi language; for the Lord commanded Zardusht, saying: “Teach this -science to thy children.” - - * * * * * * * - -ENUMERATION OF SOME ADVANTAGES WHICH ARISE FROM THE ENIGMATICAL FORMS -OF THE PRECEPTS OF ZARDUSHT’S FOLLOWERS.――The substance of the -venerable Zardusht’s precepts is contained in enigmas and parables, -because with the mass of society, fabulous narrations, though -revolting to reason, excite stronger impressions. In the next place, -if it were proposed to communicate to an ignorant person the idea of -the existence of the necessarily existing God, independent of cause, -he could not understand the proposition; and if we speak to him -concerning the uncompoundedness of intelligences, the immateriality of -souls, the excellence of the sphere and stars, he becomes overwhelmed -in perplexity and amazement; being utterly unable to comprehend -spiritual delights or tortures, or discover the exact truth; whilst -the precepts enforced by the figurative expressions of the law come -within the understanding of high and low, so that they are profited -thereby, and the explanation of the law is attended with a good -reputation both in this world and the next. The select few undoubtedly -comprehend the nature of certainty, religious abstraction, and -philosophy, although the vulgar, in general, hold these in abhorrence: -it therefore becomes necessary to clothe the maxims of philosophy in -the vestments of law, in order that all classes of society may derive -their appropriate advantages from that source: these observations -being premised, it is to be remarked, that some Yazdanian professors -express themselves after this manner:――The book of the _Zend_ is of -two kinds; the one perspicuous and without enigmatical forms of -speech, which they call the _Mah Zand_, or “Great Zand;” the second, -abounding in enigmatical and figurative forms of speech, is called the -_Kah Zand_, or “Little Zand.” The Mah Zand contained the precepts of -the law promulgated by the venerable Máhábád, such as the volume of -Azar Sassán, and the Mah Zand was lost during the domination of -strangers, particularly the Turks and Greeks: the Kah Zand still -remained, but much of it was also lost in other subsequent invasions. - - -SUMMARY OF THE CONTENTS OF THE MAH ZEND.――It entitles the supreme -Lord, Aharmuz, and acknowledges the existence, immateriality, and -uncompoundedness of his essence; accounting _Bahmán_ the Great, the -first-created being, who is also called _Farvardín_ the Great, and -looked upon and styled pure and uncompounded; from him was derived -_Ardibehesht_ the Great, along with the sublime soul and body of the -empyrean heaven; from _Ardibehesht_ the Great proceeded _Khurdád_ the -Great; from him _Tír_ the Great; from him _Murdád_ the Great; from him -_Shahrívar_ the Great; from him _Mihr_ the Great; from him _Abán_ the -Great; from him _Azar_ the Great; and from him _Dai_ the Great; these -are the lords of the heavens, and after _Farvardin_ the Great, are -accounted as the months as well as the heavens collectively. In all -other points, speculative and practical, such as the protection of -harmless creatures and the destruction of noxious animals, it agrees -with the _Dasátir_. During the Ashkanian dynasty, the people conformed -to the _Kah Zend_, but as Ardeshir was obedient to the second Sasán, -he, in compliance with the _Dasátir_ and _Mah Zend_, studiously -avoided the destruction of harmless animals: for the _Mah Zand_ is a -portion of the _Dasátir_. After him, others adopted the _Kah Zand_. -But Nushirvan, under the guidance of the contemporary _Azar Sasán_, -although conforming to the _Dasátir_ and _Mah Zand_, was during the -whole of his life innocent of the crime of slaying harmless animals; -his successors however followed the precepts of the _Kah Zend_, until -the fifth Sasán,[518] having uttered imprecations against the people -of Iran, they became the victims of privation and wretchedness. - -The professors of the Abadíán faith say that Ahriman was produced by -Time: they also say that the angels and the heavens have existed, -exist, and will continue to exist.[519] Moreover the belief of the -_Azar Húshengíáns_ or _Yazdaníáns_ is, that although the faith of -Zardusht prevailed universally from the time of Gushtasp to that of -Yezdejird, yet that the different intervening princes glossed it over -and made it agree with the _Azar Hushengíán_ or _Mahabadíán_ system, -so as never to sanction the destruction of animal life; and as they -held the words of Zardusht to be figurative, they never put them in -practice literally when they contradicted the _Azar Hushengíán_ faith, -but invariably glossed them over. - -This statement proves that _Ardeshir Babegan_ and the other Sasáníán -princes showed great reverence to the _Azar Sasáníán_ family and paid -them implicit obedience, as being truly the ministers and worshippers -of the Lord; they besides accounted them as the legitimate sovereigns, -regarding themselves merely as their lieutenants: in short, when the -_Azar Sasáníáns_ ceased to reign, they exercised the government in -their stead. However the _Azar Sasáníáns_ followed no faith except -that of Máhábád, receiving no other without the requisite glosses, and -attaching no esteem whatever to the external import of Zardusht’s -precepts: that is, regarding his words as true, but holding their -external import as figurative. The Behdiníáns also maintain that such -was the system adopted by the kings of old, particularly by _Dárá_, -_Dáráb_, _Bahmán_, _Isfendiár_, and _Lohrásp_. - -The present seems the proper time for stating some of the enigmatical -sayings ascribed to the Magians or followers of Zardusht, as -philosophy is guarded by such expressions from falling into the hands -of the ignorant, whilst the sages thereby attain their object. - -It is well known that according to their system the world had two -creators, _Yazdan_ (the Lord), and _Ahriman_: but the Lord having -entertained this evil thought, “Perhaps an antagonist may rise up to -oppose me,” Ahriman was produced, from that thought.[520] In some -places it is mentioned that God was alone, and gloom having come over -him, he entertained an evil suspicion, on which Ahriman was produced. -They say that Ahriman, who was outside the world, on looking through a -small aperture, and beholding the Lord surrounded with glory and -majesty, bore him envy and raised up wickedness and corruption. God -then created the angels to be his host, and with them fought against -Ahriman; but being unable to destroy him, they made peace with each -other on this condition; that Ahriman should remain in the world -during a definite period; and on his departure it should become the -abode of unalloyed good.[521] Jamásp, the venerable sage, says thus: -“It is to be remarked that ‘_world_’ is a metaphorical expression for -body; and ‘_God_,’ for the aspiration of the spirit; ‘_Ahriman_,’ for -the physical temperament; ‘_the evil thought_,’ the habitual bias of -the soul to material objects; by ‘_the wickedness and corruption of -Ahriman, and his war_,’ are implied the domination of the sensual -passions over spirit; and what they said of ‘_the terrestrial world_,’ -means the same; by ‘_the creation of angels_,’ the existence of -praiseworthy qualities and perseverance in pure morals, with the -subjugation of the senses by means of religious austerities, for the -senses constitute the gratuitous foes of the heart; by ‘_peace_,’ is -signified the impossibility of expelling by one effort the evil -propensities which are the armies of Iblis; that is, excess and -extravagance are to be avoided, and the path of moderation followed; -the circumstance of ‘_Ahriman’s remaining in the world for a definite -period_,’ means the ascendancy and supremacy of the bodily passions, -particularly in early years, and before arriving at mature reflection, -and even during other periods of this mortal life, in certain -constitutions; ‘_the departure of Ahriman from the world_’ implies -voluntary death, or religious austerities, or compulsory death, which -is the natural decease; when the soul has by such means been -emancipated, it finds itself adorned with perfections and attains to -its particular sphere or bliss without alloy.” - -They have said: “Darkness besieged Light and imprisoned it; on which -event the angels having come to the assistance of Light, Darkness -demanded help from Ahriman, its source; but the angels having overcome -the prince of Darkness, gave him a respite until the appointed hour -and the predestined death.” As to Darkness having arisen from the evil -thought of Light, the venerable sage Jamasp says: “The interpretation -of this tradition is the same as that of the preceding; as thus: The -soul is a precious substance, formed from light; its darkness, the -bodily passions; its confinement and imprisonment, the dominion of the -passions over that luminous essence, which drag down the souls of the -wicked to the desolation of the lower world; the assistance of angels, -is the obtaining of grace and power through elevation of mind, -proceeding from illumination from on high, and the ascent of the -spirit to the world of intellect; delay or respite implies the -continuance of the passions until the period of natural death; and the -corrupt thought the bias of the soul to material objects.” - -Dáwar Haryár, the author of the _Dáráí Sekandur_, having once -questioned the author concerning the enigmatical meanings attached to -the words God and Ahriman, received this answer: “Light is the same as -existence, and darkness signifies non-existence; God is therefore -light or existence, and Ahriman is darkness or non-existence. When it -is said that Ahriman is opposed to God, the meaning is, that God is -existence, the opposite to which is non-existence.” - -They say that the creation and production of diseases, serpents, -scorpions, and such like is an abominable act, originating with -Ahriman, which Jamásp thus explains: “It is evident that diseases, -such as ignorance, folly, pride, negligence, noxious creatures, (such -as) anger, lust, strong passions, concupiscence, calumny, envy, -malignity, covetousness, treachery, fraud, and the like, arise not -from spirit, but from the elemental constitution.” They have also -said: “An angel is the agent of good, and Ahriman the agent of evil; -and that God is exempt from both these acts; which the celebrated sage -Jamásp thus explains:――By angel is implied spirit and the agent of -good; which, if it overcome the senses, engages man in virtuous words -and acts, which are styled ‘good.’ Ahriman, or Satan, in this place -means the desires inherent in the constitution of the senses, which, -on obtaining the victory over spirit, attract it towards the pleasures -of sense, thus making it forget its original abode; which is -denominated ‘evil:’ and as the Almighty has given his creatures free -will, neither are their good or evil deeds to be imputed to him.” This -saying: That the soul of him who has done evil, having determined on -flight through fear of divine wrath, plunges downwards, is thus -explained by the sage Jamasp: “By ‘_sinner_’ is understood one whose -essence is defective; by ‘_descent_,’ turning away from the superior -to corporeal attachments; by ‘_resolving on flight_,’ the strong -desires of passion, through the suggestion of body, until the entire -departure of divine grace.” - -Thus far extend the illustrations of the sage Jamásp. But that the -scope of Zardusht is couched under allegories agrees with the -declaration made by the great Bahman, the son of Isfendiár, the son of -king Gushtásp, who says: “Zardusht once said to me: ‘My father and -mother delivered me to nurses, who dwelt in a place far remote from -the city of my birth; with these I remained many a long year, until I -quite forgot my father, mother, and native town. Suddenly this thought -came over my mind――Who are my parents, and where the place of my -birth?――I struggled hard until I returned naked and bare the way by -which I had come; and having gained my house and beheld my father and -mother, I returned again to the place where my nurses dwelt. As the -dress worn by the people of this country was on my person, I shall -therefore remain here until this dress is worn out, and then depart, -in order that it may not be said――He was unable to perform his office -and has run away, leaving our despised garments.’” - -Bahman, the son of Isfendiár, thus says: “All that Zardusht uttered -was enigmatical: the ‘_city and native place_’ are the angelic world; -by ‘_father_,’ is meant the primary intelligence; and by ‘_mother_,’ -the universal soul; ‘_the nurses_,’ this lower world and junction with -body; ‘_forgetting the original abode_,’ attachment to the elements of -body; ‘_recalling it to memory_,’ implies the struggle towards that -direction; ‘_the arriving there_,’ means religious austerities; ‘_the -state of nakedness_,’ the divesting one’s self of bodily attachments; -‘_the returning back to the nurses_,’ means resuming the body; ‘_that -it may not be said that he was alarmed at the performance of duty, and -ran off, leaving his clothes behind; I shall not therefore depart from -hence, until these clothes be worn out_;――_the performance of duty_,’ -signifies the amassing of the capital of knowledge, true faith, and -good works; by ‘_the clothes being worn out_,’ is implied the -separation of the bodily members; that is, I will remain here as long -as the body lasts, and after its dissolution return to my native -place.” - -Prince Isfendiár, the son of king Gushtásp, also tells us: “Zardusht -once said to me: ‘A number of persons once left their native place for -the purpose of acquiring wealth, that on their return they might pass -their time in pleasure and enjoyment. On arriving at the city of their -destination, some of them amassed wealth; some devoted themselves to -wandering about the place and contemplating the beauties with which it -abounded; whilst others remained altogether inactive. When the time of -packing up came, the king of that people said――Depart from hence, that -another set may arrive, and obtain their portion, as you have -done.――On which all these people went out, some provided with stores -for the journey; some without any provision; a few on horseback; a -multitude on foot; a wide desert lay before, and a toilsome road, -through rocks and prickly thorns, devoid of cultivation, destitute of -water and shade. Those who were on horseback and furnished with -provisions passed over, and having reached their native city, gave -themselves up to joy and gladness; those who were on foot, and had -provided stores for the journey, after experiencing many ups and -downs, at last, with extreme difficulty, reached their halting place, -where they passed their time in a state of happiness proportioned to -their gains, although, on instituting a comparison between themselves -and those inhabitants and dignified persons who had acquired opulence -by commercial pursuits, they feel pangs of regret; but those who came -out of the city without any kind of conveyance or stores, and thinking -that without supplies they could reach their native place, when they -had gone some little distance, became wearied and unable to proceed -through weakness, and fatigue from walking, want of provisions, the -difficulties of the road, distress, the sun’s overpowering heat, and -the gloom of night; they were forced by necessity to turn back to the -city, where they had been; but other merchants had in the meantime -taken possession of the houses, dwellings, shops, and apartments which -they formerly occupied: they were thus reduced to a state of -destitution, and had no resource left but that of working for hire or -turning mendicants, pursuits which they adopted.’” - -Isfendiar says: “‘_The city from which they departed for the purposes -of commerce_’ is the angelic world; _that to which they came with the -design of accumulating wealth_’ is the lower world; ‘_the houses, -shops, etc._,’ signify the human body; ‘_the people of the city_’ are -the animals, vegetables, and minerals; ‘_the king_,’ the elemental -nature; ‘_what the merchants have amassed_’ are their words and deeds; -‘_what others have collected_’ is devotion without knowledge; ‘_the -inactive_’ are those whose only “pursuits were sleep, sensual -gratification, etc.; ‘_the exclamation of the king_’ is Death, who -expels them from the mansions of body; ‘_the deserts and mountains_,’ -the extremes of heat and cold; ‘_the equestrians_’ are those who unite -the speculative and practical; ‘_the pedestrians, who were furnished -with some provisions_’ are those who adore God, but neither knew -themselves nor the Lord; ‘_they who are without provisions or -conveyance_’ are those destitute of knowledge and good works, who -being unable to reach the angelic world, return in despair to the -elemental world, forfeiting the rank they once possessed.” - -The sage _Shah Nasir Khusran_ says on this head: - - “When any one travels this road for that important purpose, - He takes at least a loaf of bread under his arm: - How then canst thou, who hast no store, proceed up the mount, - From the centre of darkness to the zenith of Saturn?” - -In some other parables of Zardusht, which are here noticed, he speaks -thus: “When the travellers, in consequence of the want of stores and -fatigue of walking, return back to the king’s city, not finding their -former beautiful mansions, they settle themselves in caverns or lanes, -hiring themselves as labourers or subsisting on alms.” - -Esfendiar says: “By this is understood, that when they quit this -mortal frame, they cannot reach the world on high, owing to their want -of knowledge and good works; being thus rejected, on their return to -the elemental world, they cannot obtain human bodies, but are invested -with the forms of the brute creation.” As this parable nearly -resembles what has been heretofore mentioned, it is unnecessary to -describe it more in detail. - - “When thou departest from the inn of the body, there is no other - storehouse; - Why dost thou not therefore procure supplies for the road in this - place of sojourn?” - -Isfendiar also records: “Zardusht once said: ‘Two persons of one house -were partners, and were both possessed of great capital; they -said:――We have gained a sufficient stock of wealth in the world, and -live and dress in a manner suitable to our great riches; we now only -want some beloved object, that our existence may be more blissful: -therefore, to attain our desire, it will be necessary to undertake a -journey. They directed their course to a city, the inhabitants of -which were famed for beauty and gracefulness; on arriving there with -the caravan, one of the partners gave himself up to traversing the -gardens, and was so absorbed in admiring the beauties of the city, -that he attended to no business whatever, whilst the other partner -obtained a mistress of exquisite beauty. All of a sudden the -garden-door was closed.’” - -Isfendiar says “_Záíd_ and _Amru_[522] may serve as an example of the -two friends; ‘_the capital and stock_,’ the original world; ‘_the city -of beauteous persons_,’ this world; ‘_the desirable beloved object_,’ -good works; ‘_the rapacious animals, reptiles, and beasts_’ are anger, -lust, excessive desire, hatred, envy, concupiscence, malignity, and -avarice; ‘_the herbage and gardens_’ are sloth and pride; ‘_the -garden-door_,’ the dakhmah (or sepulchral vault); ‘_the urn_,’ the -grave, or the place of burying the dead; ‘_shutting the garden-door_’ -the moment of death.” - -His reasons for enumerating the urn, dakhmah, and grave are, that -according to the faith of Azur Húshang, or Máhábád, they sometimes put -the body of the deceased into a jar of aqua-fortis, as among them the -body is deposited indifferently either in the dakhmah or the jar: but -the sepulchre is in use among the people of Room, and the funeral pile -among those of Hindustan. - -King Gushtásp also relates the following parable of Zardusht: “A -certain man delivered his son to a preceptor, saying: ‘Within such a -time teach this boy the accomplishments necessary for a courtier.’ The -boy, however, through a fondness for pleasure, sport, and amusements, -was unwilling to give himself any trouble, and was slow in learning -any thing; he however every day secretly brought from home sweetmeats -and agreeable objects, as his tutor had a great inclination for such -enjoyments. When the preceptor’s time had passed in this manner, and -his pupil had become habituated to revelling, sensual pleasures, and -enjoyments, the tutor at last fell dangerously indisposed through -these excesses, and laid himself down on the bed of death. His pupil -well knew he had no other place left, and that he must return to his -parents, so that when his master fell sick, he became sensible of his -own state. Through dread of his father, shame of his mother, the -disgrace of ignorance, and a sense of contrition, he went not near -them, but pined in melancholy and wandered about in obscurity.” - -This parable has been thus explained by Gushtásp: “‘_The preceptor_’ -signifies the five senses; ‘_the son_,’ the immortal spirit; ‘_the -father_,’ the universal intelligence; ‘_the mother_,’ the universal -soul; ‘_the sweetmeats and mistresses_,’ worldly enjoyments; ‘_the -indispensable necessity of the immortal spirit_,’ that it should, -through the senses and the common reflection which is their -instructor, attain the objects of intellect and amass provisions for -its return, so that it may become the associate of the only true king. -If this purpose be not effected, it of course feels terror at the -death of the body. When it has become thus biassed to sensual -pleasures and devoid of all goodness, on being separated from the -body, although still possessed of sufficient energy for mounting on -high, yet through shame and confusion, it feels no desire of arriving -there and beholding its parents, soul and intellect.” - -The venerable Húryár once said to the author: “I have seen the -following narrative in the _Ramazastán_ of Zardusht: ‘The prime -minister to the sovereign of the world had so many sons, that their -number surpassed all computation; these he first sent to a place of -education, where, along with the children of Rayas (cultivators), they -might attain knowledge. If the minister’s sons became intelligent, the -Dustúr summoned them to his presence, and enrolled them among the -king’s confidential servants; but if they remained without science, -they were not regarded as the Vizir’s sons, but classed among the -Rayas; were not permitted to come into his presence; and were cut off -from all share in their father’s inheritance.” - -The author replied: “It occurs to me that, by ‘_the king of the -world_,’ is meant the supreme God without equal; by ‘_vizir_,’ the -primary intelligence; and by ‘_the sons of the vizir_,’ the souls -endowed with reason; by ‘_school_,’ the elemental world, and the -bodies formed of the elements; and by ‘_the children of the common -people_’ the corporeal senses and passions.” - -When the immortal spirits have acquired knowledge in this place of -education, their father, “Universal Intelligence,” brings them near -himself, and advances them to the rank of holding intercourse with the -Lord of Eternity: but the souls which do not acquire knowledge in this -school are not allowed access to the world of uncompounded beings, the -abode of the Universal Intelligence, and remain banished from the -presence of the Creator of the world; so that they make no advance -from the material bodies of this abode of the elements, which hold the -rank of Rayas, but are excluded from all share in the inheritance of -the primary intelligence or the acquisition of knowledge. - -Zardusht has also said: “In the upper regions there exists a mighty -ocean, from the vapors of which a great mirage appears in this lower -world: so that nothing save that illusion subsists here; exactly as -nothing besides that ocean exists in the world on high.” - -The revered ruler of Húryár, having asked the author the meaning of -this parable, received this answer: “‘_The mighty ocean_’ means the -absolute essence and pure existence of God; ‘_the mirage_’ implies -contingent existences, which in truth exist not, but appear to do so, -through the inherent property of God’s absolute existence; according -to this view, he has said: ‘From the vapors of that ocean has arisen -the mirage.’” - -It is recorded in the books composed by Zardusht’s followers, and also -in the ancient histories of Iran, that at the period of Arjásp’s -second invasion of Balkh, king Gushtasp was partaking of the -hospitality of Zál, in Sistan, and Isfendiar was a prisoner in Dazh -Gambadán; and that Lohorásp, notwithstanding the religious austerities -he performed through divine favor, laid aside the robes of mortality -in battle, after which the Turks took the city. A Turk named -_Turbaratur_, or _Turbaraturhash_, having entered Zardusht’s oratory, -the prophet received martyrdom by his sword. Zardusht, however, having -thrown at him the rosary (_Shumar Afin_, or _Yád Afráz_) which he held -in his hand, there proceeded from it such effulgent splendor, that its -fire fell on Turburatur and consumed him.[523] - - - [382] If the claims to originality and antiquity of the - language in which the Desátir is written were admitted, we - should have (pp. 146, 147, Engl. transl.) _Hertushád_ or - _Hertúrásh_, as the first and true name of the Persian - prophet who followed immediately Kái Khusro. In Zand, upon - which language we are now better informed, the true name of - this legislator of the Persians is _Zerethoshtró_, or - _Zarathustra_, which signifies “star of gold;” of this was - formed in the Pehlevi language the name of _Zaratesht_ or - _Zaratosht_, and in Farsi that of _Zardúsht_ or _Zaradusht_. - The Greeks have changed the original Zand name, either by - removing the “th” in the middle of it, and thus making it - _Zereoshtró_, _Zoroastrés_; or by omitting the final - syllable “tro,” whence it became _Zaratos_, _Zabratos_, - _Zaradas_, _Zarasdés_, _Zathraustés_; we find, moreover, - _Zoromasdrès_, _Azonaces_, and _Nazaratús_. The most ancient - mention of the name of Zoroastrès, in Greek books, is to be - found in the works of Plato, and dates therefore from the - fourth century before our era. The original word has been - translated by ἀστροδύτης, “he who sacrifices to the stars;” - by ἀστροδέατης “he who contemplates the stars;” and by - “living star.” These interpretations relate to the character - of a priest and of an astronomer, generally attributed to - Zoroaster, who is also believed to have been the inventor of - _magic_; this word was originally taken in a sense very - different from that which has been given to it in later - times, and can be referred to the name of _Magi_, or - _Mobeds_ (see note, p. 17), well known to Herodotus in the - fifth century B. C. These Magi are represented as the - teachers and priests of a most pure philosophy and religion, - the origin of which is placed by the Desátir and the - Dabistán in the most remote and ante-historical times of the - Máhábádiáns. It may therefore appear less surprising to find - in Pliny’s Natural History (I. xxx. c. 1. 2.) Zoroaster - placed, pursuant to the authority of Aristotle and Eudoxus, - 6000 years before the death of Plato, and, conformably to - Hermippus, 5000 years before the Trojan war. The last date - is repeated by Plutarch (lib. de Is. et Osir.). Diogenes - Laertius says: “Hermodoros, a Platonic philosopher, counts - 5000 years from the establishment of the Magi to the - destruction of Troy.” According to Suidas, a Zoroaster lived - 500 years before the Trojan war; if the number 500 had been - erroneously substituted for 5000, which is admissible (see - M. de Fortia d’Urban, _Mathématiciens illustres_, p. 354), - we should have the agreement of all these creditable authors - just mentioned, from the fourth century before, to the - twelfth century after, our era, in fixing the age of - Zoroaster and the establishment of the Magi, 6352 or 6194 - years B. C. - - The epocha of the Magi (putting aside that of the Máhábádiáns) - has also been taken for that of Tahmuras and Jemshid, that - is, 3460 or 3429 years B. C. According to other accounts - (collected in the Hist. Diction. of Moreri, Bayle, etc., - etc.), a Zoroaster ruled the Bactrian empire in the times of - Ninus, the Assyrian king, 2200 years B. C.; vanquished by - the latter, he desired to be consumed by the fire of heaven, - and exhorted the Assyrians to preserve his ashes as a - palladium of their empire; after he had been killed by - lightning, his last will was executed. Some historians (see - Herbelot _sub voce_) admit a Zerdúsht in the age of Feridún, - 1729 years B. C. Several other learned men concur in placing - him much later, few below the sixth century before our era. - - In the utter impossibility to decide upon so many conflicting - statements, there is perhaps no better means of reconciling - them all, than concluding that Zoroaster having, in the - course of ages, become a generic or appellative name for - sages, prophets, and kings professing and promoting a - certain religion or philosophy, this name could be applied - to several individuals who appeared at different times, and - in different countries of Asia. Hence we explain in the - various accounts a plurality of Zoroasters, and an identity - of several personages with one Zoroaster; he has indeed been - supposed to be the same with _Japhet_, _Ham_ (_Heemo_), - _Zohak_, _Nimrod_, _Buddha_, _Abraham_, _Moses_, _Ezekiel_, - _Balâam_, etc., etc. Whatever it be, the Dabistán treats in - this chapter of the Zardúsht, who appeared under the reign - of Gushtasp, king of Persia, upon whose epocha too our - chronologers are not unanimous. - - Independently of the Dasátir, written originally in a - particular language, the Persians have Zand books which they - attribute to the last Zoroaster himself. Except these works, - the age of which is a subject of dispute, they have no - written records of their great legislator prior to the ninth - or tenth century of our era, and these are the poems of - Dakiki and Ferdusi. The latter narrates, in his Shah-nameh, - the history of Zerdúsht under the reign of Gushtasp. We have - besides a Shah nameh _naser_, or a Shah-nameh in prose, - composed by some one of the Magi (_Hyde_, p. 324). The - _Zardusht-nameh_, and the _Changragatcha-nameh_ are Persian - poems, the epocha of which, according to Anquetil du Perron - (_Zend-Avesta_, t. I. pp. 6, can scarcely be fixed farther - back than the fifteenth century.――A. T. - - [383] This is also related in Mirkhond’s _Runzat-us-Safa_ - (Shea’s transl., p. 286).――A. T. - - [384] Zaratúsht-Bahram is the author of the Zaratúsht-namah - before-mentioned (see _Hyde_, p. 332). The epoch of this - work is uncertain, according to the opinion of the dostúrs - of India; yet the author of it informs us, in the 2nd - chapter, that he has translated it into Persian from the - Pehlvi under the dictation of a Mobed skilled in this - language; and in the last chapter in which he names himself - he says that he composed the Zaratusht-namah in the year 647 - of Yezdegerd, which answers to 1276 of our era (see - _Zend-Avesta_, t. I. 2. P. p. 6).――A. T. - - [385] According to Cedrenus, an author of the eleventh - century, Zoroaster descended from Belus or Nimrod: this king - is, by some authors, identified with Zohák, who married two - daughters of Djemchid, from whom also Faridun descended; on - account of this relationship, Zoroaster’s origin may without - contradiction be referred to Belus and to Faridun. In the - Desâtir, the name of his father is _Heresfetmád_. According - to the authority of the book Sad-der (see _Hyde_, p. 316), - _Patirásp_, the grandfather of Zoroaster, descended from - _Hitcherasp_, who sprung from _Tchechshúnesh_, and this from - _Espintaman_, or _Sad-yuman_; who is therefore the third - ancestor of the prophet: nevertheless this last is often - called simply _Espintaman_, or also _Sapetman_; which word, - according to Anquetil du Perron (t. I. 2. p. 9), signifies - “excellent.”――A. T. - - [386] The same dream is related in the _Zardusht-namah_ (c. - 3 and 4), as well as in the work of Henry Lord (p. 451), - quoted by Anquetil du Perron (_Zend-Avesta_, t. I. 2. P. p. - 11).――A. T. - - [387] The tradition of this appears to be widely spread, not - only in the East but also in the West, as it is mentioned - by Pliny (H. N. I. vii. c. 16), with the addition of one - wonderful particular, namely, that Zartusht’s brain - palpitated so much as to repel the hand laid upon his head, - a presage of future science. Solinus (c. 1) relates the same - fact. Zoroaster is proverbially known as the first child who - laughed on being born.――A. T. - - [388] See note, p. 211. This name has also been supposed a - mere corruption of ازر دوست, _azer dóst_, that is, “a - friend of fire” (see Hyde, who rejects it, p. 314).――A. T. - - [389] The same circumstances of the child’s dangers and - miraculous escapes are related in the _Zardusht-namah_ (c. - 7-11), and in _Changrégatha-namah_ (c. 2).――A. T. - - [390] In the _Zardusht-nameh_, the name of the magician is - Turberatorsh.――A. T. - - [391] The edition of Calcutta reads generally ژند, _zhand_; - we shall keep the more familiar name, زند, _zand_. We find - also _Avesta-zand_, and simply _Asta_ and _zand_. - - Herbelot has interpreted this name of Zoroaster’s writings - by “the book of life.” Hyde thought (p. 336) that _Zand - Avesta_ was properly _Zand va Esta_, or _Zand u Esta_, and - _Zand_, an Arabic word signifying “igniarium, focile, pixis - ignaria,” joined to the Hebrew-Chaldaic word _Eshta_, or - _Esta_, “ignis,” and explained the whole name by “igniarium” - and “ignis,” or “tinder and fire.” According to Anquetil du - Perron (_Zend-Avesta_, t. II. p. 423), _zand_ signifies - “living,” and _Avesta_, “word;” therefore _Zand-Avesta_, - “the living word;” which was anciently the law of the - countries limited by the Euphrates, the Oxus, and the Indian - ocean (_ibid._, t. I. p. xiv). This law or religion is still - professed by the descendants of the Persians who, conquered - by the Muhammedans, have not submitted to the Koran; they - partly inhabit Kirman, and partly the western coast of - India, to the north and south of Surat. It is besides now - decided by the investigations of the above-named author, and - by those of Kleuker, Rask, as well as by those of Messrs. - Eugene Burnouf, Bopp, Lassen, and other philologers, that - Zand was an ancient language derived from the same source as - the Sanskrit; it was spoken before the Christian era, - particularly in the countries situated to the west of the - Caspian sea, namely in Georgia, Iran proper, and Azerbijan - (the northern Media). Moreover the _Pa-zand_ denotes a - dialect derived from the Zand, or a mixed Zand, similar to - the Rabbinic language of the Jews (_Z.-Av._, t. II. pp. 67, - 68). - - It is generally known that Anquetil du Perron brought, in - the year 1762, from Surat in India, and deposited in the - Royal library of Paris, several Zand, Pehlvi, and Persian - works, which, according to his opinion, were partly the - original works written by Zoroaster himself, partly - translated, or at least derived from original works of the - Persian prophet. These writings, namely _The Vendidad_, in - Zand and Pehlvi, were brought about the year 1276, by the - Dostur Ardeshir, from Sistan to Guzerat, and there - communicated to the Parsees, who made two copies of them; - from these come all the _Vendidads_, Zand and Pehlvi, of - Guzerat. These works, parts of which only existed in - England, were then for the first time translated into an - European language, and published in French by Anquetil. - Examined as monuments of an ancient religion and literature - of the Persians, they have been differently appreciated by - learned men, and their authenticity denied by some, among - whom the most conspicuous are sir William Jones, Richardson, - and Meiners, and defended by others, by none with more zeal - than John Frederic Kleuker, who not only translated - Anquetil’s _Zand-Avesta_ into German, in three volumes, but - in an appendix of two volumes (all in quarto) commented and - discussed with great judgment, sagacity, and erudition, all - that relates to the Zand-books attributed to Zoroaster. Here - follow, as shortly as possible, the principal results of his - laborious investigations:――testimonies of the existence of - works attributed to Zoroaster are found in Greek authors who - lived before our era. It was in the sixth century B. C. that - the Persian religion and philosophy became known in Europe - by Hostanes, the Archimagus who accompanied Xerxes in his - expedition against Greece. In the fourth century B. C., - Plato, Aristotle, and Theopompus show a knowledge of - Zoroaster’s works. In the third century B. C., Hermippus - treats expressly of them, as containing not less than - 120,000 distichs. Soon after the beginning of the Christian - era, works attributed to Zoroaster are mentioned under - different names by Nicolaus of Damascus, Strabo, Pausanius, - Pliny, and Dion Chrysostomus. St. Clement of Alexandria, in - the third century, was not unacquainted with them. Later, - the Gnostics made a great use of the oriental cosmogony and - psychology as derived from Zoroaster. The testimony of - Eusebius establishes that, in the fourth century, there - existed a collection of sacred works respecting the theology - and religion of the Persians. It was mostly the liturgical - part of them that was spread about, mixed with notions - relative to the magical art. The empress Eudokia of the - fifth, and Suidas of the twelfth, century, attribute to - Zoroaster several books, four of which treat of nature, one - of precious stones, and five of astrology and prognostics. - So much and more can be gathered from Greek and Latin works - about the writings of the Persian legislator. - - The records of the Muhammedans concerning them begin only in - the ninth century, by Muhammed Abu Jafar Ebn Jerir el Tabari - (Hyde, 317-319), according to whom Zoroaster wrote his - revelations upon 12,000 cow-skins (or parchment folios). Abu - Muhammed Mustapha, in his life of Gushtasp, says: “Zoroaster - wrote the just-mentioned work in 12 tomes, each of which - formed a bullock’s load.” Both authors say that the Persian - king deposited these books, magnificently ornamented, in - Istakhar. By several other authors, from the ninth to the - seventeenth century, it is positively established that the - books of the Zand-Avesta existed in all the centuries in - which the Muhammedans had intercourse with the disciples of - Zartusht. Works composed by the latter are: the _Bun-Dehesh_, - the _Viraf-nameh_, the _Sad-der Bun-Dehesh_, the _Ulemai-Islam_, - the _Ravacts_ (that is, the correspondence between the - Dosturs of Persia and India since the fifteenth century), - the _Zaratusht nameh_, the _Changragachah namah_, and the - history of the flight of the Parsees to India. In all these - works breathes the spirit of the strongest conviction that - authentic works of Zartusht have, although not entirely, yet - partly, been preserved to later days. This conviction is - common to a numerous nation, who adhere to their sacred - books as to the inappreciable inheritance of their - forefathers. The generality of this sentiment is attested by - several respectable and intelligent European travellers in - the East, such as Henry Lord, Gabriel de Chinon, J. B. - Tavernier, D. Sanson, the chevalier Chardin, and others. - - The name of _Zand-Avesta_ belongs, among the books published - by Anquetil, exclusively to those the original of which is - truly Zand; these alone are canonical; they are five in - number, all theological, for the most part liturgical, - namely: 1. the _Izechné_, “elevation of the soul, praise, - devotion;” called also _the little Avesta_; 2. the _Vispered_, - “the chiefs of the beings there named;” 3. the _Vendidad_, - which is considered as the foundation of the law (these - three are called together the _Vendidad Sadé_, “to combat - Ahriman”) 4. the _Yeshts Sades_, or “a collection of - compositions and of fragments, more or less ancient;” 5. the - book _Siroz_, “thirty days,” containing praises addressed to - the Genius of each day: it is a sort of liturgical calendar. - These are the Zand-books existing in our days; the originals - of them are said by the learned Foucher to have been - composed under the reign of Gushtasp, whom he places before - the time assigned to Darius Hystaspes, whilst Anquetil and - other modern authors identify under these names a king of - Persia, who lived about the middle of the sixth century - before our era. We may reasonably believe that the Zand-books - were written at a time when the Zand was a living, nay the - dominant language, in those countries where these books - first appeared; that is, in Georgia, in Iran, and in - Azerbijan. Now, if it be admitted that the Zand was in these - countries quite a dead language already, under the Ashkanian - dynasty of Persia (the Arsacides), the first of whom, - _Aghush_, began to reign 310 years B. C., it will follow, - that the Zand-books were written long before that time, that - is, most likely at least, so early so the sixth century - before the Christian era. - - Besides the original Zand-books, Anquetil translated also - from the modern Persian the _Bun-Dehesh_. This is a - collection of treatises upon several points, ranged under 34 - sections――a sort of encyclopædia, theological, cosmological, - historical, and political. This work is written in Pehlvi, - and believed to be the translation of a Zand original no - more to be found in India. It is the most ancient of the - modern works of the Parsees, and was written probably about - the seventh century of our era. - - What may confirm us in the opinion that these books, still - in the hands of the Parsees, are truly derived from much - more ancient works is, that their contents agree in a great - number of principal points with the doctrine attributed to - the Magi and to Zoroaster by ancient Greek authors, of whom - the later Parsees had certainly not the least knowledge, - whilst their Zand-books contain the names of the first and - most ancient kings of the Medes and Persians, and no other - but those, of whom the Greeks knew nothing. No king and no - private person, after Gushtasp and Zoroaster, are mentioned - in the Zand-books. - - Sixty years had elapsed since the publication of the - Zand-Avesta by Anquetil, when M. Eugène Burnouf undertook a - revision and commentary of that part of the Zand-works which - the first had translated and published, under the Pehlvi - name of _Iseshné_, and which, in Zand, is entitled _Yasna_. - Among the manuscripts which Anquetil had brought from India - was a Sanskrit translation, made towards the end of the - fifteenth century by a Dostur called Neriosengh, probably - from a Pehlvi version of a Zand original. M. Eugène Burnouf, - to give a better interpretation of the Zand text, not only - availed himself of the double translation, executed by - Neriosengh and Anquetil, but also, independently of both, - applied the principles of comparative philology to the - analysis of many Zand-words, the true signification of which - he fixed, and by various judicious observations, interspersed - in his commentary, threw light upon the geography, history, - and religion of ancient Persia. He published in 1833 the - first volume of his work, under the title “Commentaire sur - le Yasna:” he had before (1829) published the lithographed - Zand text of it in one folio volume. In 1836 appeared, at - Bombay, a lithographed edition of the same Zand text.”――A. - T. - - [392] Mina, semen virile. - - [393] The quarrel between Zartusht and his father, and the - death of the head magician, as well as what preceded――these - facts are related nearly in the same manner in the _Zerd. - Nam._, ch. 12-15.――A. T. - - [394] Anquetil du Perron states that this expanse of water - was the river Araxes (t. 1. 2. P. p. 19). - - [395] The month of February, the last month of the year.――A. - T. - - [396] Anquetil du Perron, quoting the _Zerd. Nam._, c. 18, - says, an army of serpents, perhaps tribes of Nâgas, which - came from the North.――A. T. - - [397] Mediomah, cousin to Zardusht, the first who embraced - the law; he meditated on it profoundly, published and - practised it: he confers happiness on cities.――D. S. - - [398] April, the second month of the year.――A. T. - - [399] Dabati, the name given, in Parsi works, to the Caspian - sea.――D. S.] Anquetil du Peron says (t. 1. 2. P. p. 21) that - he passed the Cyrus on his way to the Caspian sea.――A. T. - - [400] Anquetil du Peron says here, quoting H. Lord, that - Zardusht retired to the mountains for consulting the Supreme - Being, and adds in a note that, according to the Vendidad, - it was upon the mount Alborz that he consulted Hormuzd (t. - 1. 2. P. p. 22). The geographical situation of this mountain - has been indicated in the note at p. 22; but by the religion - of the Parsees it is placed in the supernatural world, to - which Zoroaster was transported, as related above. The - sacred Alborz is the first of mountains; it attained its - first elevation in fifteen years, and took eight hundred - years to complete its growth; it rose up from the middle of - the earth to the region of the first light, the delightful - abode of Mithra, of whom hereafter; the sun and the moon - depart from and return to this mountain every day (see - _Zend-Av._, t. II. pp. 206, 207, 214, 357, 361, 364, and - elsewhere).――A. T. - - [401] See note, p. 215. Zardusht is called the son of - Espintaman. The edition of Calcutta reads Askiman; the - manuscript of Oude, Askatamán.――A. T. - - [402] The Amshásfands are the six first celestial spirits - after Ormuzd. Their name is derived from the Zand-words - _emeshe_, “immortal,” and _sepente_, “excellent, - perfect.”――A. T. - - [403] It is generally acknowledged that Ahriman was the - author of evil, opposed to Ormuzd, the creator and promoter - of every good; but different opinions are entertained upon - the origin of these two mighty beings. According to the most - ancient doctrine, both were the productions of a primordial - cause, which is called _Zaruam akarenê_, “the boundless - time.” The Zand-books, as well as Shahristani and the Ulemi - Islam, make Ahriman anterior to Ormuzd, that is to say, in - plain language, “the evil was before the good.” These two - were, however, not distinguished from each other before - Ahriman had become jealous of Ormuzd, for which he was - condemned by the great creator Time to dwell in the abode of - darkness for twelve thousand years. It was then only that - Ormuzd saw with horror his deformed and frightful adversary, - and to oppose the effects of his existence created, within - three thousand years, a celestial region and a celestial - people. Ahriman, long time ignorant of what was preparing - against him, had scarce perceived the light of Ormuzd, when - he ran to destroy it, but, amazed at its beauty, fled back - to hell, where he hastened to produce a host of evil beings. - In vain did Ormuzd offer reconciliation to Ahriman, and even - a partnership in the priesthood of the boundless time; the - fiend rejected all terms of peace, and war began to rage - between them (see _Zend-Av._, t. II. pp. 345, 347.) - - According to the books of the Parsees and of the Muhammedans - who give an account of their doctrine, Ahriman is bad by - nature: nor do the more ancient Zand-books say that he ever - was good; yet the explanation given about this mysterious - being can but involve contradictions in more than one - respect. He alone is able to resist Ormuzd, of whom his - existence is entirely independent; he is the king of the - beings which he has created, and which Ormuzd cannot - annihilate; nor can the latter prevent the effects of the - power by which his enemy destroys the people of the just, - and banishes the moral good from the earth. - - An account of Ahriman’s origin, somewhat different from - this, will be seen hereafter in the Dabistán.――A. T. - - [404] These sentiments agree singularly with the following - passage of Plato: Των μεν αγαδων αλλον ουδενα αιτιατεον, των - δὲ κακων αλλ’ αττα δει ζητειν τα αιτια, αλλ’ ου τον Θεον (De - Republica). “The author of good is God alone; but the author - of evil any thing else rather than God.”――A. T. - - [405] According to the Zardusht-nameh quoted by Anquetil (t. - I. 2. P. p. 24) Zardusht delivered from hell a person who - had done good and evil. This person, believe some Parsees, - was Jamshid who, towards the end of his life, wished to be - adored as a God. Others say it was Gersh-asp, a famous - warrior, who suffered in hell for having struck the sacred - fire.――A. T. - - [406] Ardibehest (see pp. 61. 62.) presides over the second - month of the year, and the 3d, 8th, 15th, and 23d day of the - month; he is pure, beneficent, endowed by Ormuzd with great - and holy eyes; he grants health, and eloquence to men, - productions to the earth, and grandeur to the world; he - drives away the Dívs and all evils (_Zend-Av._, II, pp. 69. - 153. 154. 159. 316. and elsewhere).――A. T. - - [407] Zoroaster, according to the concurring account of - several authors, retired from the world and lived in a - cavern of the mountain Alborz, or in the mountains of - Balkhan. According to the Rauzat us Sufa (Shea’s transl., p. - 286) it was in the mountains near Ardebil, a city of - Azarbijan (the ancient Media). This cavern is said to have - been consecrated by him to Mithra. Pliny states (H. N. l. - xi. c. 42), the prophet lived 20 years in deserts, upon - cheese so tempered that he should not feel the effects of - age. This was probably before he appeared at the court of - Gushtasp.――A. T. - - [408] This miracle is not recorded in Anquetil’s life of - Zoroaster.――A. T. - - [409] Not receiving immediate access to the king, the - prophet split the upper part of the apartment where Gushtasp - was, and descended through the opening (Anquet., _Vie de - Zoroastre_, p. 29). This was in the year 549 B. C. (_ibidem_), - after the 30th year of Gushtasp’s reign (_Hyde_, p. 323).――A. T. - - [410] To these miracles add that related in the _Shah nameh - naser_, quoted by Hyde (p. 324): Zoroaster planted before - the king’s palace a cypress-tree, which in a few days grew - to the height and thickness of ten _rasons_ (measure - undetermined), and upon the top of it he built a - summer-palace.――A. T. - - [411] All those particulars about Zoroaster’s imprisonment, - and about his release after the cure effected by him upon - the king’s charger are, with little variation, related in - the _Shah-nameh naser_ (see Hyde, 325, 327), and in the - _Zerdusht nâmah_ (Anq. du Peron, t. I, 2. P. p. 325-327).――A. T. - - [412] This cure of Lohrasp is touched upon by Anquetil in - his life of Zoroaster (p. 53), but not that of Zerir; Hyde - mentions neither; but the conversion of king Lohrasp and of - his relations is generally admitted.――A. T. - - [413] See p. 149. note. - - [414] See pp. 61. 62. 241. note. - - [415] See pp. 61. 62. Khordad is the sixth Amscháspand; he - presides over the third month of the year and the sixth day - of the month; he is a chief of years, months, days, and of - time in general; he grants and aids intelligence; he causes - pure water to run through the world if man lives holily; he - is taken for water itself; he gives what is sweet to eat - (_Zand-Avesta_, I. 2. P. pp. 81. 103. II. pp. 69. 97. 153. - 157. and elsewhere).――A. T. - - [416] See pp. 61. 62. The name of the angel is simply Azar. - - [417] _Yasht_, a Zand word, may be referred to the Sanskrit - इष्त्व _ishtva_, the participle of यज् _yaj_, “to venerate.” - - The _Darun_ is an office celebrated particularly for the - sake of a king, or of the Dostur of Dosturs, in honor of - celestial beings of different names and classes (_Zend-Av._, - t. II. p. 73). Darun is also a little cake in the shape of a - crown piece, which the priest offers to the Ized-Dahman, who - blesses the creatures, the just man, and having received - from the hands of the Serosh the souls of the just, conducts - them to heaven (_ibid._, t. I. 2. pp. 86. 172).――A. T. - - [418] _Bishutan_, according to some authors was the brother, - according to the _Shah-nameh_, a confidential friend, of - Isfendiar.――A. T. - - [419] _Jamasp_, the brother and minister of Gushtasp.――A. T. - - [420] Chapt. LXXVIII. v. 38. - - [421] Chapt. XXVIII. v. 56. - - [422] According to Abulfeda, quoted by Hyde (p. 315), - Zoroaster was born in ارمی or ارميه, in Armi or Armia, the - most western town of Azarbijan (the Media of the Greeks), in - the Gordian mountains, which accounts for the surname of - Median, or Persian, or Perso-Median, which different authors - have given to him. Other historians affirm that he came from - Palestina.――A. T. - - [423] Raí is the most northern town of the province Jebal, - or Irak Ajem, the country of the ancient Parthians.――A. T. - - [424] Anquetil says (_Zend-Av._, 2 P. p. xviii.): “The - Bahman Yesht Pehlvi, rather the epitome than the translation - of the true Báhmán Zand, may be called the Apocalypse of the - Parsees. It presents, in the form of a prophecy, an abridged - history of the empire and of the religion of the Persians, - from Gushtasp to the end of the world.” That part of the - Dabistán which follows, said to be transcribed from the Zand - Avesta by a Mobed, may be presumed to be taken from the true - Báhmán Yesht Zand; still these prophecies are undoubtedly - compositions of later times interpolated in the original - works.――A. T. - - [425] It is mentioned in the Situd gher (the 2nd Nosk of the - Zend-Avesta) that Zoroaster, having demanded immortality, - Ormuzd showed him a tree of four branches: the first of - gold, this indicated the reign of Gushtasp; the second of - silver, that of Ardeshir Babegan; the third of brass, that - of Nushirvan, and the troubles excited by Mazdak; the fourth - of iron mixed with other metals, the destruction of the - Persian empire. According to the Báhmán Jesht Zand, Ormuzd - refusing a second demand of immortality made by Zoroaster, - pours into his hands a few drops of water, after the - drinking of which he is during seven days and nights filled - with divine intelligence, and sees all that passes upon the - seven _kechvars_, or “districts of the earth.” He sees a - second tree, having seven branches of metal, which indicate - seven epochas and the events belonging to them; the first - branch, which is of gold, designates the reign of Gushtasp. - Zoroaster then no more desires immortality. Ormuzd announces - to him, moreover, the war which Arjasp will make upon - Gushtasp.――(_Zend-Av._, t. I. 2. P. note, pp. xviii. - xix)――A. T. - - [426] The author of the Báhmán Yasht (_ibid._, Notices, p. - xix) describes in copious details the woes which are to - afflict the world, during the influence of the iron branch:, - he speaks of the march of armies, of physical convulsions, - of the diminished productions of nature, of the conquests - made by Arabs, Greeks, Turks, Chinese, and Christians. All - this misery is to end on the arrival of king Báhrám - Varjavand, who is to re-establish the ancient Persian - empire: by the successive mission of the three sons of - Zoroaster, who are to convert the world and confirm their - divine mission by working miracles. Sosiosh is to restore - purity to the world: during this prophet’s millennium the - resurrection is to take place.――D. S. - - [427] The _Náúroz_, is the first day of the year, a great - festival, the institution of which is ascribed to the - earliest times. It lasts six days, beginning on the day of - Ormuzd of the month Farvardin (March); this is _the little - Náúroz_, and it ends on the day of _Khordad_ (an Amshasfand - who presides over the sixth day of the month), called _the - great Náúroz_. It was on this day, they relate, that Ormuzd - created the world and what it contains; that Káiomers - triumphed over Eshem, the demon of envy, wrath, and - violence, the enemy of Serósh, and the most powerful of the - Dívs; that Mashia and Mashiáná, the first man and woman, - came forth from the earth, and that several great events of - the ancient history of the Persians took place, such as - Gushtasp’s embracing Zoroaster’s faith: it is finally on - that day that the general resurrection is to follow - (_Zend-Av._, t. II. p. 574.)――A. T. - - [428] The month of _Aban_ is the month of October, and the - angel of that name, who is the Ized of the water, presides - over the tenth day of the month. - - _Baud_ is the twenty-second day of the month.――A. T. - - [429] This list is incorrect; it should begin by stating - that the Nosks are twenty-one in number, according to the - number of words in the _Yatha ahu virio_――but the ignorance - of the transcriber has converted the three first words of a - short prayer into the three first Nosks of the - _Zend-Avesta_.――D. S. - - According to several Parsee doctors, seven of these Nosks, - or rather _náskas_, treated of the first principle, of the - origin of beings, of the history of the human race, etc.; - seven treated of morals and of civil and religious duties; - and seven of medicine and astronomy. The Pehlvi books and - some Persian works mention three other Nosks, which are to - complete the _Avesta_ at the end of this world (_Zand-Av._, - t. I. 1. P. p. 479). - - Here follows a list of the Nosks according to a translation - made by Anquetil from the Persian Ravaet of Kamah Berch (see - _Mémoires de l’Acad. des Inscript. et des B.-L._, t. - xxxviii. p. 239-254.) I have abridged the explanation of - each Nosk; the contents of several of them are much alike, - and the miscellaneous matters in them all confusedly stated. - - I.――The first Nosk, called _Setud-yesht_, “Nosk of prayer or - praise,” has 33 chapters. - - II.――The second, named _Setud-gher_, “Nosk of prayer and - praise,” has 22 chapters, and treats of the purity of - actions, of collections for the poor, of the concord which - is to subsist between relations. - - III.――_Vehest Mantsre_, “heavenly word,” has 22 chapters. It - discourses on faith, on the strict observation of the law, - and on the propensities of the heart. Mention is made of the - qualities of Zardusht, and of the pure people and pure - actions which have existed before him. - - IV.――_Bagh_, “happiness, light, or garden,” in 21 chapters, - states the substance and the true meaning of the law, God’s - commands with respect to obedience, fidelity, justice, - purity of actions, the means of guarding against Satan, and - of going into the other world. - - V.――_Dóazdah Hamast_, the twelve Hamasts, that is, “means or - things produced at the same time.” This book, in 32 - chapters, speaks of the bad people of the upper and nether - world, of the nature of all beings, of the whole creation of - God, of the resurrection, of the bridge Chinavad, and of the - fate after death. - - VI.――_Nader_, “the excellent, the rare.” This book of 35 - chapters is assigned to astronomy, to the influences of the - stars upon the actions of men; it corresponds with the - Arabic work _Buftal_ (_Bufastál_); its Persian name is - _Favameshian_ (_Favaímasíhan_); that is, by means of this - science future events are known. - - VII.――_Pajem_ means perhaps “small animal, or retribution.” - This book, in 22 chapters, gives an account of quadrupeds; - of actions permitted or not; what animals may be killed or - eat, what not; what may be killed for the use of the - _Gahanbars_, that is, the six festivals in the year - instituted in commemoration of the first creation of the - world in 365 days; and about regulations relative to these - festivals, to meritorious acts and gifts. - - VIII.――_Reteshtai_, “the Nosk of warriors or of chiefs.” The - subjects of this book form 50 chapters, 13 of which only - have survived the time of Alexander; they are: the orders - of the king, the obedience of the subjects, the conduct of - the judges, the foundation of towns, and the various - things and animals created by God. - - IX.――_Beresht_, “execution of orders, or supremacy.” This - book, of 60 chapters, 12 of which only remain after - Alexander, treats of kings and judges; of the reciprocal - relations of the governors and the governed; of the - occupations prescribed to the different classes and - professions of men; of useful knowledge; of the vices of - men; and such like things. - - X.――_Kesesrob_, perhaps “agreeable word.” This book, at - first of 60 chapters, of 15 only after Alexander’s - conquest, discourses upon the soul, science, intellect, - natural and acquired; upon morality, and the consequences - of its being observed or violated. - - XI.――_Veshtasp_, _Veshap_, once of 60, but after Alexander - of 10 chapters only, contains an eulogy upon the - government of Veshtasp (Gushtasp), upon his having - adopted, observed, and propagated Zardusht’s laws. - - XII.――_Khesht_, “brick, or little lance, or agriculture.” - This book, in 22 chapters, discusses six subjects relative - to religion, policy, morals, cultivation, political - economy, and administration of justice. In the fifth part - are stated the four venerable classes of men, which are - the kings and chiefs, the warriors, the cultivators, and - the tradesmen. - - XIII.――_Sefand_, “excellent,” inculcates in 60 chapters the - observation of moral and religious duties, and the faith - in the miracles of Zardusht. - - XIV.――_Jeresht_, “he does;” this book, of 22 chapters, - treats of the birth and the destination of man. - - XV.――_Baghantast_, “the Yesht of the fortunate,” contains in - 17 chapters the praise of God, of the angels, and of the - man who approaches God and is thankful for the benefits - which he receives from above. - - XVI.――_Niaram_ means, perhaps, “I do not seek my advantage.” - This book, of 54 chapters, teaches the good employ of - one’s fortune, and the advantages of a good behaviour - towards God and men. - - XVII.――_Asparam_, may signify “the ties, the book by - excellence, the dawn, the heaven, perfect, plant, leaf.” - It treats in 64 chapters of the _Nerengs_, that is of the - powers, faculties in different acceptations; here of the - powers of good actions, and of liturgical ceremonies. - - XVIII.――_Davaserujed_, “he who offers the extreme expedient, - or who speaks of it,” of 65 chapters, shows the knowledge - of men and animals; how the latter are to be taken care - of; how travellers and captives are to be treated. - - XIX.――_Askaram_, “I discover, explain, make known, teach - publicly,” in 53 chapters, explains the obligation, the - best establishment and limitation of laws and regulations. - - XX.――_Vendidad_, “given for the repulsion of the Dîvs,” of - 22 chapters, forbids all sorts of bad, impure, and violent - actions. - - XXI.――_Hadokht_, “the powerful _Has_,” that is, “words of - phrases of the _Avesta_,” in 30 chapters, exhibits the - manner of always performing many miracles, pure works, and - admirable things. - - * * * * * - - Of all these Nosks, not one, except the _Vendidad_, has been - preserved complete, and the names of three only, namely, the - _Setud-yesht_, the _Vendidad_, and the _Hadokht_, are - mentioned in the different Zand-books still extant. This - shows that, at different times, changes in the forms of the - written liturgy have taken place, and that the names, - superscriptions, and divisions of the writings have been - arbitrarily treated by different Dostúrs, without any change - in the contents. - - The names of the Nosks given by Hyde (343, 345), partly from - the dictionary _Farhang Ichangiri_, partly from other - sources not mentioned, are not correct nor rightly explained. - - Three additional Nosks are to be brought into the world by - three posthumous sons of Zoroaster. See in a subsequent note - their miraculous origin and actions. - - The Persian text of another Notice upon the Nosks, somewhat - more complete than that published by Anquetil in Roman - letters, has been edited by Messrs. Julius Mohl and - Olshausen, of Kiel (see _Fragmens relatifs à la Religion de - Zoroastre, extraits des manuscrits persans de la - Bibliothèque du Roi_, 1829).――A. T. - - [430] शङ्कराचर्य “_Sankara acharya_,” upon whose age different - opinions are entertained. - - [431] According to another tradition Gushtasp himself had - travelled in India, and had been instructed by the Brahmans. - In the Desátir (English transl., Comment, pp. 185, 186), we - read that, when Sekander conquered Iran, Sásán, the son of - Darab, went to India, where he practised the worship of - Yezdan in a cavern, and where he died. He left a son named - Jivánasp, who is known as the second Sásán, equal to his - father, and who took his abode in Kabulistan. Ardeshir (the - son of another Sásán, of the Kayanián race, a relative of - the Saint), admonished by a dream, went to Kabulistan, and - by his entreaties prevailed upon the second Sásán to follow - him to Istakhar, where Ardeshir erected, for the habitation - of the saint, an immense monastery adorned with figures of - the stars, and having fire-temples on its different sides. - These and other traditions afford the inference that, in - early times, a religious intercourse had taken place between - India and Persia.――A. T. - - [432] In the Desátir (English translat., p. 120) the Greek - philosopher is called _Tútíanush_. We are at a loss even to - guess at the Greek to whom these names may be applied. We - may however remember that St. Clement of Alexandria places - Pythagoras about the 62nd Olympiad, or about 528 years B. - C., and says that he was a zealous follower of Zoroaster, - and had consulted the Magi. Jamblicus, in his life of - Pythagoras (cap. 4) states, that this philosopher was taken - prisoner by Cambyses and carried to Babylon, where, in his - intercourse with the Magi, he was instructed in their modes - of worship, perhaps by Zoroaster himself, if _Zabratus_ and - _Nazaratus_, mentioned as his instructors by Diogenes and - Alexander, can be identified with the Persian prophet. Now, - the long reign of Lohrasp (of 120 years) is supposed by some - chronologers to comprehend the reigns of Cambyses and of - Smerdis. Upon this uncertain chronological ground, Pythagoras - may be placed in the times of Gushtasp, to whom, as was - before said, Foucher with others assigns an epocha more - remote than that of Darius Hystaspes of the Greeks. It is - known that Alexander, by the conquest of Persia, accomplished, - to a certain degree and for a certain time, his glorious - project to connect the East with the West; an open - intercourse took place between the Asiatics and the Greeks, - whose language was widely spread in Asia. The Macedonian - conqueror is there generally believed to have been the son - of Darab (Darius), and the brother of Báhmán Isfendiar. He - received, says the Desátir (p. 123), from the hands of his - Persian spouse Pari-dokht Roshenak (Parysatis Roxana), “the - bright daughter of the fairy,” a book of Zardusht addressed - to him, and forming a part of the Desátir. Alexander ordered - the Persian books to be translated into Greek, called the - _Nurakhi_ language, in the Desatir, in which is also said - (p. 124): “Hence the sect of Internal Illumination will - arise among the _Nurakhis_, as well as that of Reason.” To - this passage the Commentary subjoins: “The sect of - Gúshtaspians of Iran and Yunán is a medium between the - Illuminated and the Rationalist. When Sekander came to Iran, - he found that the Gúshtaspians of Iran were the better and - wiser; and he found that they had such power that, when they - pleased, they left the body, which they treated as a - garment. And besides them he saw another class of men in - Irán, who, by means of reason and meditation (_nurnúd_) - discovered the real nature of things as they actually exist; - and there was no such class of men in Yunán. Having - collected all their books, he translated them into the - Yunáni and Rúmi tongues. He then gave his prime minister - (Dostur) and teacher the title of the chief Mobéd and Sage, - and made him the head of the Nirnúdis. From this time - forward the sect of Rationalists prevailed among the Yunanis - and Rúmis.” Alexander’s prime minister is supposed by the - Asiatics to have been Aristotle; we know that this philosopher - had an accurate knowledge of Zoroaster’s doctrine. Although - the history, religion, and science of the Asiatics have - certainly not been neglected by the inquisitive Greeks, - Alexander’s companions, among whom was Callisthenes, a - relation of Aristotle, yet we find in the western histories - no particular notice corroborating the account just quoted - of the Desátir. Unfortunately we may be more positive about - the destruction of ancient monumental works in Persia by the - son of Philip; it is for having burnt the Nosks that he is - said by the Persians to be burning in hell (see Anquetil, - vol. II. p. 338).――A. T. - - [433] व्यास, “_Vyasa_,” a sage of that name occurs in the - chapter upon the Hindus and elsewhere. - - In the Desátir, published at Bombay, there is “the book of - Shet the prophet _Zirtúsht_” (Engl. transl., pp. 116-145), - in which the interview between _Hertushád_, son of _Hereofetmad_ - (_Zortúsht_), the Yúnan philosopher and the Indian sages is - related. - - Here ends the principal part of the historical account which - the Dabistán gives of Zoroaster’s life. I shall add, - according to Anquetil (_Zend-Av._, t. I. 2. P. pp. 60-62), a - summary account of its principal events in chronological - order. - - Anquetil supposes Zoroaster born 589 years B. C. At the age - of 30 years he goes to Irán, through which country he only - passes. He disappears then to the eyes of the Persians - during ten years. His followers say that he was transported - before the throne of God. It was in this interval of time - that he terminated several works which he had perhaps - already begun upon mount Alborz, or in Chaldæa. The mountains - afforded him retirement. The twenty years which he is said - to have passed in the deserts were, probably, from his - twentieth to his fortieth year. - - At this age he appeared before Gushtasp, in Balkh, and at - this very time Hystaspes, father of Darius, may have reigned - in Bactria. Zoroaster performed miracles during ten years: - this is the period of his mission. After his first miracles, - his reputation having spread afar, Changragháchah came to - meet him. This Brahman treats him in his letter to Gushtasp - as a young man, and well might an old man, such as Changragháchah - was, have so called a man of forty years. It is also to this - time that Anquetil refers what is said about the - cypress-tree which Zoroaster planted before the - _Atesh-gadah_, or the fire-temple, of Kichmar in Khorassan. - Isfendiár was then very young, because about twenty-eight - years later his elder son was not yet married; and Darius, - 540 years B. C., might have been ten years old. - - At the age of sixty-five years, Zoroaster delivered in - Babylon lessons of philosophy, and counted Pythagoras among - his disciples; Cambyses, according to the Greeks, filled - then the throne of Persia. Three years afterwards, the - legislator returned from Chaldæa for establishing the - worship of the cypress, which lasted eight years. Persia had - then acknowledged Darius, the son of Hystaspes, as king. - - After these eight years, Zoroaster advised the war against - Turan. He was very old. The Shahnamah calls him _pír_, - “old.” Gushtasp, victorious over the Turaniáns, heaps every - honor upon him, and he dies, some time after, at the age of - seventy-seven years, in the interval of time which elapsed - between the expedition of Gushtasp and the invasion of the - Turaniáns. Báhmán, the eldest son of Isfendiar, was able to - carry arms, and Darius, 512 B. C., might have been - thirty-eight years old. - - As to the posterity of Zoroaster――he had been successively - married to three wives. With the first he had one son and - three daughters; with the second two sons; it is not certain - whether he had any offspring with his third wife, called - Húó, the niece of Jamasp――the Zand-books however say, that - she brought him three sons, who are to appear about the end - of the world.――A. T. - - According to Zand and Parsee writings, the birth and actions - of these sons will be equally miraculous. Zoroaster, having - visited Húó three times on her going to bathe, the germs - remained in the water. The Izeds (or genii) Nerioseng and - Anahid were charged with their custody, until the period - when three virgins bathing in the same water, should receive - these germs in succession, and bring into the world the - three sons of Zoroaster. - - The first is named _Oshederbámi_. He is to appear at the - commencement of the last millennium of the world, and to - arrest the sun’s course during ten days and nights; and as - Zoroaster converted one of the four portions of the human - race, he is to convert the second to the law, and give them - the 22nd Nosk. - - The second posthumous son is _Oshedermáh_. He is to appear - four hundred years after Oshederbámi, and to arrest the - sun’s course during ten days and nights; he is also to bring - the 23rd Nosk of the law, and to convert the third portion - of the human race. - - The third is named _Sosiosh_. He shall appear at the end of - ages, arrest the sun’s course during thirty days and nights, - bring the 24th Nosk of the law, and the whole world is to - embrace the faith of Zoroaster: after this comes on the - resurrection.――(_Zend.-Av._, t. I. 2. P. pp. 45, 46).――D. S. - - [434] In the Desátir (English transl. p. 126) he is called - _Biras_.――A. T. - - [435] Ardai Viráf or Arda Viráf or Virasp, also simply - called Viraf or Virasp, was, about the year 200 of our era, - one of the most zealous followers and defenders of Zoroaster’s - religion, which, under Alexander the Great and the other - kings of Persia, had lost its first authority (see Hyde, pp. - 278, 279). Arda Viraf is mentioned in one of the _Yeshts - Sades_, or prayers called _Dup Néreng_, which are recited - when perfumes are thrown into the fire (_Zend-Av._, t. II, - p. 53).――A. T. - - [436] In the _Shah nameh Naser_ it is stated, in the life of - Ardashir Babegan (see Hyde, p. 280) that this king, - abolishing several regulations of Alexander the Great, - granted toleration to followers of the faith professed by - Gushtasp, and wishing to re-establish Zoroaster’s religion, - demanded from its Mobeds miracles, which they performed. The - king, satisfied by these proofs, not only adopted their - tenets himself, but obliged all others to do the same. In - the life of Shapur it is said, in the book quoted, that, - when Ardashir was inaugurated in the government, he demanded - from the chiefs of the Magi miracles, after the performance - of which Ardai Viráf, during a whole week, supporting by - arguments the truth of his religion, brought also forward - all that relates to hell and heaven. Some believed; others - doubted or denied: the number of the last was 80,000.――A. T. - - [437] The Revelations of Ardái Viraf are said to have been - originally written in Zand. There exists a Viraf nameh in - Pehlvi, probably of the fourth century of our era; works of - this name are found in modern Persian in prose and in verse. - Anquetil mentions a Viraf nameh in verse, composed A. D. - 1532, by Káús, Herbed of Náusari, and another by Zardusht, - son of Báhrám (_Zend-Av._, t. I. 2. P. not. pp. ix. x. xxx. - xxxii). Translations of this work have also been made into - Sanskrit and the Hindu language of Guzerat. An English - translation of the Ardai-Viraf Nameh, by T. A. Pope, - appeared in 1816. The translator says in his preface (p. - xiii): that the Revelations of Ardai Viraf appear to be the - same work that is mentioned by Richardson as the work of - Ardeshir Babegan, which having been improved by Nushirvan - the Just, in the sixth century, was sent by him to all the - governors of provinces, as the invariable rule of their - conduct. Pope examined for his work three versions in the - modern Persian: the first in prose, by Nushirvan Kermani; - the second in verse, by Zardusht Biram (Báhrám); the third - in prose, by the same (_ibid._, p. xiv).――A. T. - - [438] رسن, _rasan_ is a linear measure, the exact value of - which could not be ascertained. According to common belief - of the Muhammedans, this bridge appears of different shapes; - to the good, a straight and pleasant road of thirty-seven - fathoms in breadth; but to the wicked it is like the edge of - a sword, on which they totter and fall into the abyss below. - According to the translation of Pope (p. 11), when Ardai - Viráf found himself close to the bridge, it appeared to him - to be a broad and good road.――A. T. - - [439] Mihr Ized is the same as Mithra. He is the most active - champion against Ahriman and the host of evil genii; he has - one thousand ears and ten thousand eyes; a club, a bow, - arrows, and a golden poniard in his hand; he traverses the - space between heaven and earth; he gives light, that is the - sun, to the earth; he directs the course of water, and - blesses mankind with progeny and the fruits of the field: - the earth receives from him its warriors and virtuous kings; - he watches over the law, and maintains the harmony of the - world. After death, he not only grants protection against - the attacks of the impure spirits, but assigns heaven to the - souls of the just. It is there that he appears in the - celestial assembly of holy Fervers surrounding the throne of - Ormuzd (see _Zend-Av._, t. II. pp. 204. 205. 222. 223. 256. - and in other places). - - Mithra is by some authors identified with Ormuzd himself, - and with the sun; but it results from Anquetil’s investigations - that, in the religion of the Persians, he is distinct from - both and subordinate to Ormuzd. - - He occupies a much higher rank in the religious system of - the Chaldæans and the Arabs, who first venerated Mithra. It - is now established beyond any doubt, by a good number of - authentic monuments, that in later times the religion and - worship of Mithra has been greatly developed in dogmas, - symbols, and a system of mysteries relating to cosmology, - astronomy, and physiology: in the first centuries of the - Christian era, this religion appears to have been spread, - not only over Asia, but also over a great part of Europe. - This subject has been very learnedly treated at great length - in modern works of too great celebrity to require mentioning - here.――A. T. - - [440] Rashné-rast, an Ized, who presides over the 18th day - of the month; he is the Ized of righteousness, which he - bestows; he sees every thing from afar, destroys the thief - and the violent, and takes care of the earth; it is he to - whom Ormuzd has given a thousand forces and ten thousand - eyes, and who weighs the actions of men upon the bridge - which separates the earth from heaven.――(_Zend-Av._, t. I. - 2. P. pp. 82. 131.; II. pp. 218. 219. 223).――A. T. - - [441] In Pope’s translation of the Viráf-nameh we find (pp. - 13-15) what follows: “When Serósh Ized laid hold of my arm, - we proceeded to the top of the bridge, one side of which - appeared in full splendor of light and the other in total - darkness, when I heard a strong and extraordinary noise - which, on looking forwards, I perceived to come from a dog, - that was chained with a collar and chain of gold, near the - light side of the bridge.――I asked the angels: ‘Why is the - dog here?’――to which Serósh Izad replied: ‘He makes this - noise to frighten Ahriman, and keeps watch here to prevent - his approach; his name is _Zering Goash_ (Cerberus?) and the - devils shake at his voice; and any soul that has, during its - residence in the lower world, hurt or ill used or destroyed - any of these animals, is prevented by Zering Goash from - proceeding any further across the bridge; and, Ardai Viraf, - when you return again to the world, as one of the first - duties, enjoin the taking care of these animals.” According - to the _Vendidad Sadé_ (_Zend-Av._, t. I. 2. P. p. 418), the - souls, strong and holy, who have done good works, shall, at - their passage over the bridge Chanivad, be protected by the - dog of the herds. On that account the Persian kings had (see - _Brissonii de Reg. Pers. princip. libri tres_, l. I. p. 157) - at their table a particular meal prepared for the dog. The - Parsees in our days have great regard for dogs. Immense - numbers of these animals are fed by those people, though not - admitted into their houses.――A. T. - - [442] Printed copy reads تير پايه, _tir páyah_. - - [443] The Gítí Kharíd is called the gift of two rupees, - which a man is obliged to give once in his life to a Mobed - or a priest, in order that he may perform, during five or - eight days, a religious ceremony for the sake of the donor, - who is purified by it. This purification is substituted for - another more expensive rite, called the Náuzódí, which a - Parsee is bound to perform when fifteen years old, and - which, on the part of the Neophyte, requires a considerable - knowledge of religious doctrine, prayers, and ceremonies. He - who during his life has not made Yesht, nor the Gítí Kharíd, - nor the present of a dress to the Pure, shall, after the - resurrection, appear naked (_Zend-Av._, t. II. pp. 34. 553. - 554).――A. T. - - [444] The Parsees mention in their books a very agreeable - oil, called _Mediozerem_, which is the beverage of the - blessed in heaven, and it is, they say, from the name of - this oil that one of the six yearly festivals sacred to the - memory of the creation is called _Gáhamber Mediozerem_ - (_Zend-Av._, t. II. p. 394. note).――A. T. - - According to the Ardai Viraf Nameh, translated by Pope, - Lond., 1816 (p. 22) Ardai received a lozenge to eat, which - buried in oblivion all that had passed in the other world, - and turned his thoughts to God alone.――D. S. - - [445] Ardibehest, see p. 241, note. - - [446] In the manuscript, Garjishman; in the Ardai Viráf - Nameh, Geroosman.――D. S. - - [447] We might almost imagine this tenet as the origin of - accounting the Grecian Hercules a God, from this ancient - testimony of veneration for the destroyers of lions, hydras, - etc.――D. S. - - [448] The Viraf-nameh, a sort of Persian “Divina Commedia,” - contains, in Pope’s translation, a description much more - detailed than here, and even prolix, of Viraf’s journey in - the other world. We there read of seven heavens, namely: the - _Hamestan_, the _Sitar-payah_, the _Mah-payah_, the - _Khordad-payah_, the _Gerúshman_, the _Azar Róshní_, and the - _Ana Gurra Roshní_. In the last (pp. 38-39), in the centre - of a building, on a throne was seated Zartusht, and by his - side were standing his three sons, named _Assad Avaster_, - _Ozvar túr_, and _Khurshid chehár_; attending on the prophet - were Jemshid and other kings, among whom was Gushtasp and - some sages, not without Changragácha, the converted Brahman. - These seven heavens have been very ingeniously referred by - M. Felix Lajard (see _Mémoire sur les deux bas-reliefs - mithriaques qui ont été découverts en Transylvanie_, pp. 49 - _et seq._) to a passage which Origenes has preserved to us, - from a treatise of Celsus against the Christians. This - philosopher, speaking of certain mysteries among the - Persians, mentions seven doors, which are of lead, tin, - brass, iron, mixed metal, silver, and gold, corresponding in - their order to the heavenly bodies, Saturn, Venus, Jupiter, - Mercury, Mars, the moon, and the sun; above the last is an - eighth door, most likely the heavenly Alborz, “the region of - the primordial light (see note, p. 232).” We learn from the - Boun-Dehesh, the Zardúsht-nameh, and other works, that the - ascension of the souls was effected through the five planets - which, in the mysterious ladder of Celsus, are placed before - the moon and the sun, who himself rests upon mount Alborz. - M. F. Lajard makes use with great sagacity of the passage of - Celsus, in support of his explanation of the mithriacal - monuments which are the subjects of his learned Memoir.――A. - T. - - [449] In which food is given to the poor.――A. T. - - [450] Báj, or Váj, signifies in general religious silence, - or an inarticulate murmuring of prayers. This is practised - before eating, and is to be followed by an inviolable - silence during the repast. See Hyde, p. 352, and Anquetil du - Peron, II. p. 598. - - [451] Aban is the Ized of water, and presides over the tenth - day of the month. Anq. du Per., I. 2. P. p. 132; II. 318. - 328.――A. T. - - [452] _Kashti_ is a girdle commonly of wool or of camel’s - hair, consisting of seventy-two threads, to go at least - twice round the body, say, about ten feet in length. The - breadth depends upon the thickness of the threads. It is - tied about the _saderé_, which is a sort of white shirt, - worn immediately upon the skin, with short sleeves, open - above and commonly not passing the hips. This girdle was - worn by the Parsees from time immemorial. They pretend that - Jemshid, being instructed by Hom, the primitive legislator, - invented the Kashti. Before the time of Zoroaster, it was - worn indifferently as a scarf, or wrapped round the head. - The monuments of Persepolis exhibit persons wearing the - Kashti. Not to wear it in the fifteenth year is a great sin; - the day on which it is taken for the first time is a - festival, and daily prayers are prescribed before putting it - on, and frequent ceremonies are connected with it (_Zend-Av._, - t. II. pp. 529). Nothing can be right or good that is done - without the Kashti: “ungirt, unblessed” (Hyde, p. 376). We - have here a striking example how a custom originally - suggested by simple convenience, to be girt, or to be ready, - _accingere se_, acquires by religious prescription an - importance far beyond its intended use and purpose.――A. T. - - [453] Darwands, the production of Ahriman: this word means: - 1. the _Darong_, or “evil spirits, who appear under the - human form;” 2. the worshippers of Ahriman; 3. the spirits - of the damned. After the resurrection, they shall be anew - precipitated into hell, to be punished there during three - days and nights; after which the great and small mountains - of the earth shall be dissolved and flow over its surface in - rivers of metal; the Durwands will be forced to pass through - this molten ocean, and being thus purified from all sin - become eternally blessed.――D. S. - - [454] In this sentence D. Shea found the manuscripts and the - printed copy to differ greatly, but the manuscript of Oude - agrees with the latter, which therefore the editor thinks - himself justified in following, although there must remain a - doubt about the author’s meaning having been perfectly - expressed.――A. T. - - [455] The account of Ardai Viraf’s vision of the other world - can but remind us of what Plato relates (Respubl., t. x) of - Hero, the son of Armenius, a Pamphilian by origin: viz., - when this man had been killed in battle, and when, on the - tenth day, the dead bodies were in a state of decomposition, - he alone was preserved and carried home to be buried, and on - the twelfth day, being placed upon the funeral pyre, he gave - signs of life, and, resuscitated, he related what he had - seen in the other world. Upon this we may reflect, that the - name of _Arda_, which occurs as a part of many Persian - names, may be referred to the Sanskrit ऊर्ध _ûrdha_, - “elevated;” Ardashir is perhaps ऊर्ध शिरः _úrdhaśiras_, - “elevated head;” ऊर्द्दर _úrddara_, signifies “a hero, a - champion; from ऊर्ज _úrja_, to be strong: which would give - nearly the sense of Plato’s αλκιμου του ανδρος, “of the - strong man,” as he characterises Hero. This observation - gains perhaps some relief, by connecting it with a passage - of St. Clement of Alexandria (Strom. I. V. sect. xiv.), in - which he interprets by Zoroaster the name of Hero, and - quotes a passage from a work in which this supposed - Zoroaster relates of himself what Plato states of Hero. The - work mentioned by St. Clement, much known in the first - centuries of our era, might have been composed by a - Neo-platonic who transposed the fable from Hero to Zoroaster. - Hero, certainly not Zoroaster, may with more probability be - assimilated to one of his zealous followers, Ardai Viraf, - who lived in the second century of our era.――A. T. - - [456] According to the concurrent testimony of Persian - records, _Azarbad_, the son of _Maresfand_, was the - thirtieth descendant from Zoroaster. Twenty-nine generations, - at four to a century, make 725 years; to this add forty for - the probable age of Azarbad at the time of his assuming the - prophetic mission: if from the sum 765 we subtract 240, that - is, the epocha of king Shapúr, under whom Azarbad lived, - there will remain 525, the time of Zoroaster before Christ. - Four generations are here assigned to a century, because, - according to Zoroaster’s law, marriage is an act of - religion, and children are the steps or ladders for - ascending to heaven: the observance of this precept must - have tended to multiply the generations in the legislator’s - family (Rauzet-us Safa, Shea’s transl., p. 280). - - The following quotation from the Shah-nameh naser (Hyde, p. - 280) may here find place, in addition to my note, p. 284: - When king Shapúr heard of the great uncertainty still - prevailing among a considerable number of men about the - truth of Zoroaster’s religion, he demanded a solution of the - great question from the principal priests, among whom - Azarbad rose and offered to satisfy him: “I will,” said he, - “further develop Ardai Viraf’s account of hell and heaven, - and sit naked from head to foot, whilst eighteen pounds of - melted brass are poured upon my body; if the least particle - of it be hurt, the prophet’s words are false; they are true, - if I receive not the least injury.” No harm ensued to him - from the trial made upon his person, and all believed.――A. T. - - [457] The reading of the manuscript and printed copy is - exceedingly defective in this passage: it has been restored - according to historical notices: Pope’s translation has (p. - 99) “forty thousand souls have seceded from our holy faith,” - instead of “the forty thousand wise men were again - assembled.”――D. S. - - [458] The Viraf nameh terminates by these words: “The - Masdian religion became more firmly established than ever, - and continued in all its purity until the Mahomedan conquest - dispersed its votaries, and forced those who persevered in - it to abandon the tombs of their ancestors, and to fly for - refuge to distant countries. A small number fled to, and - were kindly received on, the shores of western India, and - the present Parsees of Bombay and Surat are their descendants.” - That is to say, it was a short time after Yezdejerd’s death - that, persecuted by the Muhammedans, a number of Persians, - to preserve their ancient religion, fled to Kohistan, from - whence after a century they descended to Ormuz on the - Persian gulf, and after a stay there of fifteen years landed - at Diu on the Indian coast. Nineteen years later they - established themselves in the Guzerat; thence, after the - lapse of three hundred years, they dispersed to the north - and south of Surat. They had been five centuries in India - when they fought with the Indians against the Muhammedans, - and were again obliged to fly before the enemies of their - faith. They maintained themselves, however, in different - places of the province of Aurungabad. Having gradually - increased in numbers to about 150,000 families (in 1816), - they live dispersed in villages from Diu to Bombay, in which - place about 24,000 of them reside (_Zend Av._, t. I. 1. P. - p. cccxviii; and Pope’s Engl. transl. of the Viraf-nameh, p. - 118).――A. T. - - [459] Káshmar, Kishmar is the name of a town in the country - of Tirshez, in Khorasan or in Bactria (Hyde, p. 332). - - [460] Upon the cypress, see notes pp. 236, 280. According to - the Ferhang Jehangiri and the Burhani Kati, Zardusht planted - two cypress-trees; one in the town just mentioned, and the - other in the town of _Farúmad_, or _Ferúyad_, or _Ferdíd_, - which is in the country of _Tus_. The Magi believe, he - planted these trees by means of two shoots brought by him - from paradise.――A. T. - - [461] He was the tenth Khalif of the Abbassides, and began - to reign in the year of the Hejira 232, A. D. 846.――A. T. - - [462] Samarah is a town in Chaldæa, from which the Samaritan - Jews have their name, and which was for some time the seat - of the Muselman empire (Herbelot).――A. T. - - [463] Jâafriyah is a town in the Arabian Irak, so called - from its builder, _Jâfar_, the original name of the khalif - who assumed the title of _Matavakhel al Allah_, “he who - confides in God.”――A. T. - - [464] He had then reigned fourteen years and two months. - The Turks were excited to murder him by his own son - _Montassar_, in the town of Makhuriah, on the very spot - where Khosru Parviz had been put to death by his son - Shiruyah (Siroes)――(Herbelot).――A. T. - - [465] According to the above statement, the tree would have - been planted 604 years before our era, that is, about the - time of Gushtasp, king of Persia, if the years above stated - be taken for solar years; but if for lunar (that is for only - 1408 solar) years, the epoch of the plantation of the - cypress would be 562 years B. C., and 548, if the computation - be referred to the end of Mutawakhal’s life.――A. T. - - [466] Hakim Mirtas, in the text, may be a proper name.――A. T. - - [467] The Sad-der naser (in prose) is an abridgment of - practical and ceremonial theology, called Sad-der, or “one - hundred doors,” because the hundred chapters of which it is - composed are like so many doors leading to heaven. Some - Parsees think that the original was written in Pehlvi. It is - positively said in the beginning of this treatise that it - has been drawn from the law: which proves that it makes no - part of the Zend-Avesta (_Zend-Av._, t. I. 2. P. Notices, - pp. xxix. xxx). - - The Sad-der nazem (in verse) was versified by a Persian - called _Shahmard_, the son of _Malek Shah_, and terminated - in the month of Isfendermad (February) of the year 864 from - the installation of Yezdejerd, 1495 A. D., and brought from - Kirman to India by the Dustúr Pashutan Daji. This work has - been translated into Latin by the learned Hyde (_ibid._, p. - xxxiv). The Dabistan gives only a short abstract of it.――A. - T. - - [468] See p. 298, where the same tale occurs. - - [469] Yasht (see note, p. 258) signifies with the Parsees in - general prayers accompanied by efficacious benedictions, but - is here used to imply the panegyrics of several celestial - spirits, in which are enumerated their principal attributes - and their relation to Ormuzd and his productions, as - distributors of the blessings which this secondary principle - spreads over nature, and as declared enemies of Ahriman and - his ministers. According to the Parsees, each Amshasfand and - Ized had a peculiar Yasht; but of all these compositions - there only remain in the Zand eighteen which are authentic, - and a small part of the Yasht of Bahman.――D. S. - - [470] Upon the Naú Roz, see note, p. 268. - - [471] These are two short forms of prayer, like our - collects, which are frequently repeated in the Parsee - litanies. The _Ita ahu virio_, as translated by Anq. du - Peron, runs thus: “It is the desire of Ormuzd that the chief - of the law should perform pure and holy works: Bahman - bestows abundance on him who acts with holiness in this - world. O, Ormuzd! thou establishest as king whoever consoles - and nourishes the poor.” The _Ashem Vuhu_ thus: “Abundance - and paradise are reserved for him who is just and pure: he - is truly pure who is holy and performs holy works.”――D. S. - - [472] _Kirfah_ means: 1. a good work; 2. a merit which - absolves from sin. The author of the Dabistán has so - abridged this Der that it is deemed proper to give it at - length according to Hyde’s translation: “It is manifest, - from the principles of religion, that we must concede due - authority to the Dustúr and must not deviate from his - commands, as he is the ornament and splendor of the faith. - Although thy good works may be countless as the leaves of - the trees, the grains of sand, the drops of rain, or the - stars in the heavens, thou canst gain nothing by them, - unless they be acceptable in the sight of the Dustúr: if he - be not content with thee, thou shalt have no praise in this - world: therefore, my son, thou shalt pay to the Dustúr who - teaches thee the tithe of all thou possessest (wealth and - property of every kind, gold and silver). Therefore thou, - who desirest to enjoy paradise to all eternity, pay tithes - to the Dustúr; for if he be satisfied with thee, know that - paradise is thine; but if he be not content with thee, thou - canst derive no portion of benefit from thy good works; thy - soul shalt not find its way to paradise; thou shalt have no - place along with angels; thy soul can never be delivered - from the fiends of hell, which is to be thy eternal abode: - but pay the tithes, and the Dustúrs will be pleased with - thee, and thy soul shall get to paradise without delay. - Truly the Dustúrs know the religion of all men, understand - all things, and deliver all (faithful) men.”――D. S. - - [473] Hyde (p. 454) has “_Malkus_, whose enchantments - brought on the deluge.” - - [474] _Sarúregh_, according to Hyde (_ibid._), “by whom (in - the time of Sâm) the world suffered oppression and injury.” - - [475] “_Túr-Brátur_ (otherwise _Túri-Brátrush_ or _tresh_), - that villanous and obscene man, who destroyed Zardusht in - that religion which he supported by his zeal.”――(Hyde, - _ibid._). This name is perhaps a variation of _Parántárush_ - (see p. 228).――A. T. - - [476] See note, p. 297. - - [477] The terms Miezd and Darun require some farther - illustration: the following is from the Zend-Avesta, vol. - II. p. 534. The Miezd, that is, meats previously blessed and - then eaten, either during or after the service; flowers, - fruits, especially pomegranates and dates; rice, fragrant - seeds, and perfumes; milk; the small cakes called Darun; the - branches of the Hom and its juice, called Perahom; the roots - of trees, particularly the pomegranate tree. The roots are - cut, the milk, and in general all these offerings, are - prepared with ceremonies described at great length in the - _Ravaets_, or “ritual treatises.” These offerings, and the - sacred implements, which are twenty-six in number, constitute - the thirty-three objects as specified by Zoroaster in the - latter part of the first Ha of the Izechné, vol. I. P. II. - p. 87: “I invoke and laud all the mighty, the pure Dustúrs - who have thirty-three objects around and near the Havan (the - vase for holding the Perahom): they are pure, according to - the ordinance of Zaradusht, who was instructed by the - Supreme Lord himself.” The Daruns are small cakes of - unleavened bread, nearly the form and thickness of a crown - piece: there are two or four of these offered, according to - the nature of the service. The Darun on which they place a - little dressed meat is called _Darun Fusesté_, or “offered - bread.”――D. S. - - [478] The Afirgans, or Afernigáns, are the prayers and - benedictions recited during the Gahanbar or the last ten - days of the year, and on the anniversary of deceased parents - or relations: but the service on the third night after the - decease is not to be neglected, as in that case the soul of - the deceased would remain without protection until the - resurrection. On the third night, at the Oshen Gah, or - midnight, there are four services; one for each of the - angels, Rashin Rast, Ram Izad, and Surush, the fourth in - honor of the Ferouers of holy personages. In this last - service are recited nine Kardés, or portions of the - _Vispared_, and four dresses, fruits, and cheese are laid by - for the officiating priest, along with the Darun. - - The word _Vispered_ admits of two meanings: 1. “the - knowledge of “every thing,” _Vispé Khirad_;” 2. “all the - chiefs,” _Vispé Rad_. The latter meaning seems more - analogous to the Vispered, as it begins by invoking the - chiefs of all beings――such as the first of the heavens, the - first of the earth, the first of aquatic creatures, etc. - Zoroaster is supposed to have repeated to the Brahmin - Chingégratch this Vispered, which begins thus: “I invoke and - laud the first of the heavens, the first of the earth, the - first of aquatic beings, the first of terrestrial beings, - the first of brilliant and intelligent beings, the holy, - pure, and great Chingégrâtchás;” and it ends with “I invoke - and laud the bull exalted on high, who makes the herbage to - grow in abundance; this bull, the pure gift, who has given - (being) to the pure man.” The Vispered is divided into - twenty-seven _Kardés_, or “sections,” and probably formed - part of the Baghantást of the fifteenth Nosk of the Avesta. - It is recited by day, as well as the Izeshneh (Yazishnah), - and with a Barsom, or “bundle, of thirty-five branches of - trees. - - Izeshné (Yazishnah) means a prayer setting forth the - greatness of the personage thus addressed. It is composed of - seventy-two Há, which the Parsees divide into two parts: the - first part contains twenty-seven Há, addressed to Ormuzd and - his creation; the second contains prayers addressed to the - Supreme Being; it speaks of man, of his wants, of the - several genii charged to protect him, etc. The word Há, - which signifies a portion of the Izeshné, is derived from - the Zend Hâetîm, or Hâtarim, portions. From Hâtaum is also - formed “Had,” which signifies “measure, limit.” The Izeshné - probably formed part of the Setud-yesht, the first Nosk of - the Avesta, or of the Setud-gher, the second Nosk. The - Izeshné is performed at the _Gah Havan_, or “sunrise;” when, - recited by itself without other prayers, the Izeshnéh Sadah - is read with the same ceremonies as the Vendidad Sâdeh, - excepting that the _Barsom_, or “sacred bundle of twigs” - [see hereafter, p. 319], consists then of only twenty-three - branches. The Vendidad and Vispered cannot be recited - without the Izeshné, and the Barsom for these two offices - consists of thirty-five branches. - - The term _Sâde_ means “pure,” or the text without a - translation. - - The two works, the Izeshné and Vispered, joined to the - Vendidad, the twentieth Nosk of the Avesta, form the - Vendidad Sadé, which the Mobeds are obliged to recite every - day, commencing at the _Gâh Oshen_, or “midnight,” or before - day-break, so that it may be finished before sunrise. - - Purifications, ordinances, marriages, in short all the - ceremonies of the law, depend on the due celebration of this - office.――D. S. - - [479] Lest demons or wizards should take them away and use - them in their enchantments.――D. S. - - [480] Upon Váj, see note, p. 296. - - In this translation, the reading of the manuscript has been - followed as being the most simple: there seems however - something omitted. Annexed is the form of prayer recited in - Váj, which means mental recitation: it is taken from - Anquetil du Perron: - - - THE PRAYERS RECITED BY PARSEES BEFORE MEAT. - - _Etha aad avirmede._――“Ormuzd is king: now I make Izeshné to - Ormuzd the giver of pure flocks, the giver of pure waters, - of pure trees, the giver of light, of earth, and of every - kind of good.” This is to be recited once. - - _Eshem Trihu._――“Abundance and paradise are reserved for the - just and undefiled person; he who does heavenly and pure - works.” To be recited three times. - - - PRAYERS AFTER MEAT. - - _Ethu ahu Virio._――“It is the desire of Ormuzd that the - chief (of the law) should perform pure and holy works. - Bahman gives (abundance) to him who acts with holiness in - the world. O Ormuzd! thou establishest as king whoever - comforts and nourishes the poor.” To be repeated twice. - - _Eshem vuhu._――“Abundance and paradise, etc.” To be repeated - once. - - _Ehmarestchi._――“Mayest thou remain always effulgent with - light! may thy body be always in good condition! may thy - body ever increase! may thy body be ever victorious! may thy - desires, when accomplished, ever render thee happy! mayest - thou always have distinguished children! mayest thou live - for ever! for length of time! for length of years! and - mayest thou be received for ever into the celestial abodes - of the holy, all radiant with light and happiness! enjoy a - thousand healths, ten thousand healths.” - - _Kereba mezada._――This form of prayer shall be quoted - hereafter. - - _Eshem Vuhu._――“Abundance and paradise, etc.” To be repeated - once. - - The commentator on this gate has evidently confounded Váj or - Váz with the Barsum; this mistake is not to be attributed to - the author of the Dabistán.――D. S. - - [481] Strabo, observes Anquetil (_Zand-Avesta_, p. 532), - alludes to the Barsom, where he says of the Magi: τὰς δὲ - ἀπωδὰς ποιουνται πολὺν ῥαβδων μυρικίνων λεπτων δέσμην - κατέχοντες· “They make their prayers a long time, holding a - bundle of slender twigs of tamarisk in their hands” - (_Geog._, lib. XV. p. 733).――D. S. - - [482] See pp. 292-3. - - [483] Anquetil du Perron says (_Zend-Avesta_, t. II. p. - 601): “Of all the religions known, that of the Parsís is - perhaps the only one in which fasting be neither meritorious - nor even permitted. The Parsí, on the contrary, believes to - honor Ormuzd by nourishing himself well: because the body, - fresh and vigorous, renders the soul stronger against the - bad genii; because the man, feeling less want, reads the - word with more attention, and feels more courage for - performing good works; consequently several celestial - spirits are especially charged with watching over the - welfare of man: Rameshné, Kharom, Khordád, and Amerdád give - abundance and pleasures to him, and it is the last of the - Izeds mentioned who produces in the fruits the taste and - flavor which lead men to apply them to that use for which - Ormuzd has created them.”――A. T. - - [484] The cock is an animal held in great esteem by the - Parsees, who are enjoined to keep one in their houses; - Bahrám (Mars) appears under this form (_Zend-Avesta_, t. II. - pp. 290. 602). The cock is called a Persian bird, and, - according to Athenæus, cocks came first from Persia (see - Hyde, p. 412).――A. T. - - [485] In the fifth period of eighty days were created the - 282 Sardah, or genera of birds and animals, viz.: 110 of - birds and 172 of animals (Hyde, _Rel. Vet. Pers._, p. - 164).――D. S. - - [486] According to Hyde’s translation of the _Sad-der_ (p. - 471): _caput ejus expiare oportet_, “an expiation is to be - performed over his head.”――A. T. - - [487] _Mezda_ or _Maz-dao_, in Zand, according to Rask, - means “God;” Bohlen and Mr. Bopp believe that this word is - of the same family as the Sanskrit _mahat_, “great;” M. - Eugene Burnouf, in a learned discussion, justifies the - interpretation “_multiscius_” given of this word by - Neriosengh (see _Commentaire sur le Yacna_, pp. 70-77).――A. T. - - The form of prayer called _Kimna va Mazda_ is probably the - same as the Kereba Mazda (_Zend-Avesta_, t. II. p. 6), which - is as follows: “Grant, O Ormuzd, that my good works may - efface my sins; grant joy and content to my purified soul! - give me a share in all the good works and holy words of the - seven regions of the earth! May the earth enlarge itself! - may the rivers extend their courses! may the sun ever rise - on high! may such be the portion of the pure in life, - according to the wishes which I make.”――D. S. - - [488] For _yarshanom_, which is in the manuscripts and in - the edition of Calcutta, read _Barashnom_. This is the name - of one of the four sorts of purifications prescribed to the - Parsees; that called the _Barashnom of nine nights_, is - believed the most efficacious. It is performed in a garden - or in a retired place, where a piece of ground 90 feet in - length and 16 feet in breadth is chosen for it, and, after - having been cleaned and surrounded by a narrow ditch and a - hedge, covered with sand. Therein, after the celebration of - ceremonies during one or three days, a Mobed traces a number - of furrows or trenches, called _Keishs_, and forms several - heaps of stones according to prescribed rules; he prepares a - beverage of ox’s urine and water mixed with other sacred - liquids: this the person to be purified drinks in sacred - vases, then enters into the _Keishs_, accompanied by Mobeds - and a dog; there he strips, and receives on his body wine - poured over him, and washes himself with that given him by - the Mobed. During prayers recited by the purificator and - himself, he passes over several heaps of stones, his right - hand on his head and his left upon the dog, and is then - rubbed with dust; in his progress over other heaps of - stones, he washes himself several times with water. This - done, the purified person goes out of the trenches, and - performs other ablutions with water before he dresses and - puts on the _Koshti_, or “girdle.” The individual who takes - the _Barashnom_ remains separated from other men during nine - days, and at the end of the third, sixth, and ninth night, - he washes himself with a prescribed quantity of wine and - water, and is subject to other ceremonies. This is a very - short abstract of the ceremonies practised in our days; in - the _Vendidad Sadé_, other very minute particulars and - prayers are given for the performance of purification, the - usages of which have in the course of time undergone some - changes. See a completely detailed account of these rites of - purification in Anquetil’s elaborate work, _Zend-Avesta_, t. - I. 2. P. pp. 353-367, and t. II. pp. 545-548, with a plan of - the place upon which the Barashnom is performed.――A. T. - - [489] According to Olugh Beigh (Hyde, p. 190), the name of - the five supplementary days of the Persian year of 360 days - are as follows: Ahnavád, Ashnavád, Isfendamád or Máz, - Vahshat or Vahást, and Hashúnesh or Hashtuvish (see also p. - 62. n.).――A. T. - - [490] According to Anquetil (_Zend-Avesta_, II. p. 575) the - name of the five supplementary days is _Farvardians_, that - is, “the days of the Fervers of the law:” on these days, as - the Persians believe, the souls of the blessed and those of - the damned come to visit their relations, who receive them - with the greatest magnificence in their houses, purified and - adorned for the occasion. - - In the composition of the name Farvardigán, appears to have - entered the word Gáhs, which denotes also the Epagomenes, - and five female Izeds, or angels, who have formed, and - preserve, the bodies, and are occupied in heaven to weave - garments for the just (_Zand-Avesta_, I. 2. P. p. 221).――A. T. - - [491] It may be recollected that, during the short period of - the French Republic, the year was of twelve months, each of - thirty days, with the addition of five supplementary days, - called by some _Sansculotides_; these were festivals, - consecrated, the 1st, to Virtue; the 2nd, to Genius; the - 3rd, to Labour; the 4th, to Opinion; and the 5th, to - Recompense; every fourth or leap-year, there was a 6th day, - devoted to the Revolution.――A. T. - - [492] The manuscript reads: “Let her eat bread at night, - having wrapped up the hand in her sleeve and over that a - towel.”――D. S. - - [493] _Yasht_ is not found among the names of the Nosks - enumerated in the note, pp. 272-275.――A. T. - - [494] Every city and village must have the tree called - _Aderán_, or _Aderán Sháh_, or “the chief of fires.” - _Ader_ is the Pá-zend of Ateré, which signifies fire; which - word, in Parsee writings, means the several fires which - showed themselves to mankind under different forms, and also - their presiding genii; whilst Atesh signifies the common - fire. When a kitchen fire has been used three times, the - Parsees are bound to take it to the Aderán: the other fires - must be taken thither on the expiration of seven days, on - the day of Ader and those of his co-operating genii. The - fire Aderán itself is taken once every year, or at least - every three years, to the fire _Behram_, which is the result - of one thousand and one fires, taken from fifteen different - kinds of fire. In strictness there should be an Ader Behrám - in every province, and according to some Dustúrs, in every - city. On the expiration of a certain period, they take the - ashes of the Behrám, Aderán, and other fires into the - fields, and strew them over the cultivated grounds. It - requires a ceremonial of thirty days to prepare the Behrám - fire (_Zend-Avesta_, t. II. p. 531).――D. S. - - [495] The Parsees use for their purifications seven things: - plain water; _Padiav_ water; water of power, or _ab-í-zúr_ - (according to Hyde, golden water) _Yeshtí_ water; earth; - _Noreng gomez_, or ox’s urine; and _Noreng gomez yeshtá_. - They must take care to have the plain water and the earth - free from all kind of impurity.――D. S. - - [496] _Padiav_ means “what renders or is rendered (pure) - like water.” To impart this quality to water, the officiating - priest puts it in a large vase, out of which he fills a - smaller vessel; he afterwards pours out some of the water - three times from the smaller into the larger vessel, - accompanying each act with certain forms of prayer, on which - the water becomes Padiav.――D. S. - - [497] See note, p. 325. - - [498] According to Anquetil Du Perron, _Khushnuman_ - signifies one who is pleased or favorable: this name is - given to a short prayer, or collect, which contains the - principal attributes of the being to whom it is addressed: - there are two kinds of it, the greater and the less: in the - former, after every attribute they repeat: “I offer thee - Izechné,” or “I praise and magnify thee;” in the latter form - this is only repeated after the enumeration of all the - attributes.――D. S. - - [499] See note, p. 315, Hyde translates _Darún yeshtén_, by - “expiatory banquet:” but according to Anquetil (_Zend-Avesta_, - t. I. 2. P. p. 237) the Darún Yeshté is a Parsi office, - which begins thus: - - “With the Barsom raised over the Zúr, I address in prayer - the great Ormuzd, brilliant in light and glory; also the - Amshaspands; and thee, O Fire! son of Ormuzd! - I address in prayer the wood and the perfumes! - . . . . thee, O Fire, son of Ormuzd! - . . . . the pure, the chiefs who walk in dignity - in this world! - I make Khushnuman; I address my prayer to Ormuzd, to the - Amshaspands, to the pure Surúsh, to the Fire of Ormuzd, the - great, the exalted, the holy! - I pray to the holy, pure, and great Vendidad given to Zoroaster! - . . . . . . . . Gahs. - . . . . . . . . Gahanbars, or the six - periods of creation.―― - . . . . . . . . Years and laud them.” - - _Darun yeshté_ also signifies “Festival Darúns,” or banquets - preceded by the recitation of the Izeshné, the Vendidad, and - the Darun, for which the officiating priest receives a new - dress. This bears out Hyde’s translation.――D. S. - - [500] The forms Jethá ahú viríyo, Eshem Vehu, and Jetha âúd - Jezmídé have been given under GATE 22.――The Homoctenaum is a - short prayer: “To think with purity, to act with purity, to - perform and execute it, to teach others the same, such is my - undertaking. I teach the same to men: may it turn to my - good!” The Hockhshéthrôtemâé: “The king who is pure and - elevated as I am, I will give him his desires; of him I, - Ormuzd the holy and heavenly, will take peculiar care.――” - The printed copy reads for Jétha âad Jezmédé, the words - اهم بريم يزمندی ايتا اهو. But as one manuscript reads Jétha âád - Jezmédé, it has been retained. The Hemoctaum and Hokhshéthrôtemâé - are also conjectural, as the two manuscripts and printed - copy present different readings. In the latter these are - read Homesham and Hochastar.――D. S. - - [501] In the Vendidad Sadé (_Zend-Avesta_, t. I. 2. P. p. - 386) we find: “The world is engendered from water; and at - present there are in the water two primeval aquatic dogs and - thousands of their females which produce by copulation - thousands of their species. To smite these aquatic dogs - causes all good things to be parched up; from that city or - place shall depart all that is sweet to the taste: wholesome - viands, health, longevity, abundance, rain, the source of - good, the profusion of temporal blessings; also whatever - grows on the earth, such as grain and pasturage.”――D. S. - - [502] In page 564, _Zend-Avesta_, t. II. we find: “The - Parsees who are desirous of leading happy lives, and of - having children who do them honor, must employ four priests - to repeat the Izeshné during three consecutive days and - nights: this rite is called the _Zindeh Ravan_, or ‘verifier - of the soul (at the moment of death).’” - - Surúsh, or Surúsh Ized, performs a most important part in - Parsee mythology (see note, p. 7).――D. S. - - [503] According to Anquetil du Perron, the following are - some of the ceremonies practised on such occasions. On the - approaching departure of the soul from the body, they - perform the _Sag-díd_ (the dog-saw) by presenting a dog - before the dying person, and that the animal may be induced - to look at him, they throw some bits of bread or meat near - the person. Without doubt Bardesanes, in _Euseb. præp. Evan. - lib._, p. 277, alludes to this custom where he says: “All - the Medes expose the dying, whilst yet breathing, to dogs - which have been carefully trained for that purpose;” and in - like manner (_Euseb. præp. Evang._, l. I. p. 11-12), where - he says: “Among the Hyrcanians and Caspians, some exposed - persons whilst yet alive to birds of prey and dogs; others - only the deceased: but the Bactrians exposed old people - whilst yet alive to dogs.” (See hereafter the note to GATE - 77.) - - The Parsees believe that, immediately after death, the soul, - like a feeble new-born infant, flutters during the first day - around the place where the person died; on the second, - around the Keshé, or place in the Dakhmé where the body is - deposited; and on the third around the Dakhmé or Parsi - burying-place; on the fourth, near the bridge of Chinavad, - where he is interrogated by Mithra and Rashné Rast, who also - weigh his actions. During the three first days, they - celebrate the Surúsh Yasht, the Surúsh Darún, the Patet - Mokhtat (of souls), and the Surúsh Afergan. Patet signifies - a general confession of all sins a person may have committed. - Afergáns and Afrins are prayers in the form of thanksgivings - accompanied with supplications and benedictions. On the - third night, at the Gah Oshen, they celebrate four Daruns: - the first in honor of Rashné Rast; the second of Raon Ized; - the third of Surúsh, with six Darúns, three large and three - small; and the fourth in honor of the Ferouers of the - Saints: with this last they place four dresses, along with - fruits and cheese, all of which are for the officiating - priest.――D. S. - - [504] The Niyayish is an humble and submissive form of - prayer, of which there are five, addressed to five Izeds, - and containing their panegyrics: the sun, Mithra, the moon, - the female Ardouisur, and the fire Behrám. Amongst the - attributes of Ardouisur are: making females prolific, pure, - giving them happy child-births, supplying milk, etc. The - great Vorôokeshé makes every thing grow and exist in those - places where it flows, and whither it bears the element of - water, from the source Ardouisur of a thousand channels and - a thousand arms, each of which extends to a journey of forty - days as performed by a well-mounted horseman.――D. S. - - [505] According to Hyde’s version Gojestah, or Gosakhtah, - became the devil, because he lapsed from the truth and - lessened it. When he saw he had to contend against the - truth, he fell prostrate in astonishment during a thousand - years, and dared not venture to approach the world, but - remained groaning and trembling in his own place. I cannot - find this tradition in the _Zend-Avesta_, according to - which, Bomasp is the demon of falsehood. On the authority of - GATE 91, I prefer reading Gokhastah to Kusastah, or “the - broken.” Hyde (p. 180) mentions that the Indo-Persians - reckon Gegjesta Ghanáminu the immediate minister of - Ahriman.――D. S. - - [506] According to an ancient custom which is observed even - in our days, the mouth of a dying Parsí is applied to that - of a dog, who is to receive the man’s last breath. This - custom may have occasioned the belief that the Persians let - dogs devour their sick and dying. So says Herodotus (l. - III.); Strabo (l. XI.) names the Bactrians and Sogdians as - feeding for this purpose certain dogs, whom they call - “buriers of the dead;” Cicero (Tusc., l. XLV) mentions the - same of the Hyrcanians. Certainly, different customs - prevailed in different times among the numerous nations who - inhabited the vast empire of Persia: hence may be explained - the various and sometimes contradictory accounts of ancient - authors whose affirmation, denial, and silence, with respect - to a particular fact, may however, in many instances, with - equal truth but with due restriction, be applied to - particular places and epochs.――A. T. - - [507] The Parsis, from the most ancient to our times, - neither bury nor burn their dead, but expose them to be - devoured by birds and wild beasts. They fear to pollute the - earth and the fire, which they hold sacred. It is, however, - well established that they built formerly very magnificent - sepulchres for kings and eminent men, to whom probably the - privilege of such monumental graves was confined.――A. T. - - [508] The readings in the manuscript and printed copy are - both erroneous; therefore Yarshanom, Pituft Irash, and Tipat - Barash have, on the authority of Anquetil Du Perron, been - changed into Barashnom, and Patet Iran. - - [509] Among the animals, cows, sheep, and fowls are - particularly specified.――D. S. - - [510] For Eshem Vehu, see GATE 22. - - [511] The same is said of Mohammed, see note, p. 3. - - [512] If the epoch of Kaíomars be adopted according to - Ferdusi, 3529 B. C., that of Zoroaster would be = 529 years - before our era. In the Mojmel al Tavarikh (IVth chapter, - upon the chronology of the philosophers and some kings of - Rúm) it is stated that, since Zoroaster appeared, 1700 years - had elapsed to the time of the author, who wrote in the year - 1530 of the Hejira, or A. D. 1126; therefore Zoroaster would - have lived 574 years B. C. If the 1700 years be taken for - lunar years, the epoch would answer to 522 before the - Christian era.――A. T. - - [513] For _Pávyáb_, or according to Anquetil du Perron, - _Padiav_ water, see GATE 54. This word may perhaps be - derived from the Sanskrit पू _pú_, “to purify;” पवित्र - _pavitra_, “pure;” पवित्रं _pavitram_, “water, rain, - cleansing in general, a sacrificial implement.”――A. T. - - [514] For Adar Behrám, or the fire of Behram, see note on - GATE 53. Instead of Var Behrám and Vār Behrām of the - manuscript, and Varcháram of the edit. of Calcutta, Adar - Behrám has been adopted on Hyde’s authority.――D. S. - - [515] Bahrám is the most active of the Izeds, the king of - all the beings; with a celestial body, receiving his glory - and splendor from Ormuzd, he presides over the 20th day of - the month; he bestows health and victory, and combats the - Dívs. He appears under the form of a young man of fifteen - years, and under those of different animals; that of a cock - has already been mentioned (see note, p. 324); he appears - besides as a bull, a horse, a camel, a ram, a he-goat, a - lamb. He is also identified with the planet Mars, and acts a - great part in the ancient history of Persia. See _Zand-Avesta_, - t. I. 2. P. pp. 83. 86. 91; t. II. pp. 98. 287. 289. 290. - 294. 321. 356. and in other places.――A. T. - - [516] The Calcutta edition reads _Pímasídím_; the above - agrees nearly with the name given by Anquetil, which is - _Hamespethmédem_. The other names of the Gahambars, - according to the spelling of that author, are, from the - first to the fifth, as follow: _Medïozerem_, _Medïoshem_, - _Peteschem_, _Eïathrem_, and _Médïarem_. The statement - relative to these six festivals, as contained in the Afrín - of the Gahambar _Zend-Avesta_, t. II. pp. 82-87) coincides - with that of the Dabistán. Ormuzd himself holds out - remunerations to those who rightly celebrate each of these - days, and condign punishments to those who neglect the - prescribed observances.――A. T. - - [517] In the _Ardi Viraf nameh_ we read, that the river of - hell, most black and frigid, is made of the tears of those - who mourn for the dead; to the surviving friends silence and - pious mussitation in remembering the merits of the dead are - recommended.――A. T. - - [518] See note, p. 105. - - [519] Nothing existed before the first principle began the - work of creation; this principle is called in the - _Bun-Dehesh Zaruam akarené_, “the boundless time;” that is, - “sine extremitatibus anterioribus et posterioribus.” - Distinct from it is “the long time,” which is said to be - created by God, and not “self-existing” as the first. Among - the productions of this first principle, some are “self-creating,” - such as Ormuzd and Ahriman (see note, pp. 235-236); others - act only upon what exists already, such as the three - substances――the primordial light, the primordial water, and - the primordial fire. This is the doctrine expressed in Zand, - Pehlvi, and the most ancient Persian books. The above - statement about the eternal existence of the heavens seems - therefore not in accordance with it. The Abádians or the - Kaiomarsiáns acknowledged the good principle under the name - of _Yezdan_, and the bad principle under that of _Ahriman_; - but they believed that the first only was from eternity, and - not the last; or in other terms, that light only was eternal - and darkness created. The cosmogony of this sect was the - same as that related in the _Bun-Dehesh_, or as that of - Zoroaster; it is briefly as follows: The primordial bull was - the principle of all irrational creatures as well as of the - human race. According to the _Izeshné_ and the _Bun-Dehesh_, - the primitive man came forth from the side of the bull; he - was called in Zand _gaya mereta_, and in Pehlvi _gayo mard_; - a word compounded of _gaya_, “bull or life,” and of - _mĕrĕta_, “mortal,” or “man;” hence came _Gayomars_, or - _Kaïomars_, the name of a most ancient Persian king (see - note, p. 29). From the seed of Gayomard sprung a tree which - was shaped like two men, and the fruit of which comprised - ten different species of men; from these two bodies came the - twins Meshia and Meshiané, man and woman, the ancestors of - mankind. Although created for happiness, they were seduced - by Ahriman, and averted from the adoration of Ormuzd; they - wandered in the wilderness, were addicted to hunting, clad - in skins of animals, and their posterity peopled the earth. - - But Ormuzd did not forsake his creatures. In order to - emancipate them from the rule of Ahriman, he destined to - them his word, the law of Zartusht, who always existed, but - his _feruer_, that is, “the ideal of his perfection,” was to - be produced by Zardusht’s fire. - - He was to be preceded by _Hom_, the first apostle of the - law, whom Jemshid followed. This king and prophet erected - but few fire-temples; mankind venerated the elements and the - stars, not without a number of evil genii, and a gross - superstition began to prevail. For opposing this and - renewing the primitive law, Zardusht appeared.――A. T. - - [520] It appears quite conformable with true psychology to - derive the origin of the evil spirit from jealousy, as was - said in the note at p. 236, or from apprehension, doubt, - suspicion, or envy, as above.――A. T. - - [521] According to the _Boun Dehesh_ (_Zend-Avesta_, t. II. - pp. 347-348), Ormuzd will during three thousand years move - alone; during three other thousand years, his operations - will be blended with those of his adversary; the subsequent - three thousand years will belong to Ahriman; and in the last - three, completing the period of twelve thousand years, the - author of evil shall disappear; and at the resurrection of - the dead and the renewal of the bodies――previous to which - event are to appear the three posthumous sons of Zoroaster - (see note, pp. 281-282)――the world shall be without evil - during all ages. - - The ultimate fate of Ahriman is stated in the _Vendidad Sadé - Izeshné_ and _Vispered_, as follows (_Zend-Avesta_, t. I. 2. - P. p. 169): “That unjust, that impure being, who is a Div - but in his thoughts; that dark king of the Darwands, who - understands nothing but evil; he shall, at the resurrection, - recite the Avesta, and not only himself practise the law of - Ormuzd, but establish it even in the habitations of the - Darwands.” Moreover it is said (_Zend-Avesta_, t. II. pp. - 415-416), that Ahriman, that lying serpent, shall at the end - of ages be purified by fire, as well as the earth be freed - from the dark abode of hell; Ormuzd and Ahriman, accompanied - by all the good and evil genii, shall sing the praises of - the author of all good.”――A. T. - - [522] Záíd and Amru are two names which grammarians use in - giving an example for any two individuals, such as may be - said A. and B.――A. T. - - [523] The author of the _Dabistán_ names no other famous - teachers or sectaries of Magism, after the death of - Zoroaster, besides Ardai Viraf, Azarbád, and Mazdak: he - treats of this last in particular in the subsequent section, - previously to which we cannot omit adverting to Mani or - Manes, whose name occurs in this book but once occasionally, - as that of a painter (see note, p. 205). He is however much - more reputed as the founder of a new doctrine, called from - him _Manichæism_, which spread its ramifications widely - through the Christian world. According to several authors, - Mani was a Christian priest, and pretended to act the part - of Paraclet, the announced successor to Jesus Christ; - according to Khondemir, he endeavored to substitute himself - for Mohammed, to whom that prophecy respecting a Paraclet - was applied by the Muselmans. However it be, Mani’s - Enghelion, or Gospel, has not been preserved, nor any other - work written by himself; the books of his followers too, - such as could be found, were burnt. His religion is stated - to have been a mixture of Magism, Brahmanism or Buddhism, - Judaism, and Christianism; Shahristani, often quoted in this - work, and Mohammed Ibn el Nedim el Werrak, author of the - Fehrist (a history of literature), agree in representing his - doctrine as a branch of Magism with some Christianism - ingrafted upon it. - - The two points attributed to Mani by the commentator of the - Desátir, namely, the permission to kill harmless animals, - and the prohibition of sexual intercourse, belong rather to - the ethical or practical, than to the theological, part of - his religion, which distinguished itself by particular - dogmas and opinions relative to the duality of principle, - good and bad, light and darkness, involving other metaphysical - questions. These, we know, were common to other religions in - all times. Before Manes, Christian sects combined the said - principles with the dogmas of their religion: so did the - followers of Basilides, Marcion, Bardesanes, Valentius, and - others. These, as well as after them the disciples of Manes, - happen to be not seldom confounded with the Gnostics, which - name was applied to different sectaries, chiefly Neo-platonics, - from the earliest to later times of Christianism. The - Manichæans rejected the Old Testament entirely, and partly - the New, which they interpreted according to their opinion. - They disputed about the nature of Jesus, and modified - Christian theology; they believed a region inhabited by God - and the pure spirits, prior to the creation; a world, - created of an eternal and self-existing matter; ten heavens - and eight earths; two empires, the one of light and the - other of darkness; the last, ruled by the great Lord, called - “matter;” demons with material souls and bodies; the soul no - part of the divinty, but united with the body to govern it; - two souls in every man; the propagation of souls; a - transmigration of souls into animals; the stars, and every - thing in nature, even the stones, animated; the rotundity of - heaven and of the earth; antipodes; and other theses too - many to be all enumerated in this place. They had besides - particular rites of worship, from which the veneration of - the sun, the moon, and other stars, was not excluded; they - were averse to matrimony, and generally austere in their - manners. See about this extensive subject the _Mémoires_ of - the learned Abbé Foucher, in the _Hist. de l’Acad. Royale - des Insc. et Belles-Lett._, t. xxix, and the work quoted, - _Hist. crit. de Manichée_, by Beausobre.――A. T. - - - - -THE FIFTEENTH SECTION GIVES AN ACCOUNT OF THE TENETS HELD BY THE -FOLLOWERS OF MAZDAK.――Mazdak was a holy and learned man, -contemporary with king Kobad; his religion was extensively -diffused, but he was at last put to death by the illustrious -Nushirvan; his tenets were as follow: from the commencement -without beginning, the world had two creators; the agent of good, -_Yazdan_, “God,” or “light;” and the agent of evil, _Ahriman_, or -“darkness.” The supreme God is the author of good, and from him -proceeds nothing but good; consequently, intelligences, souls, -heavens, and stars are his creation, in all which Ahriman has no -share whatever; the elements and their combinations are, in like -manner, the productions of the Lord; the influence of fire -imparts warmth to those stricken with cold; the breathing of the -winds gives coolness and ease to those consumed by heat; the -water satisfies those parched with thirst; the earth is the place -of ambulation. In like manner, their combinations, such as gold -and silver among minerals; the fruit-bearing trees among -vegetables; the ox, horse, sheep, and camel, of animals; the -pious and beneficent among mankind, are his creation: but the -consuming of animals by fire; the destruction of living creatures -by the sultry simoom (wind); the foundering of ships in floods; -the cutting bodies asunder by iron, or their being pricked by -thorns; rapacious and noxious animals, such as lions, tigers, -scorpions, serpents, and the like, are all the works of Ahriman; -and as he has no share in the empyreal heaven, they style it -_Behisht_; but as he possesses a joint authority in the elemental -world, opposition has consequently arisen, and no form subsisting -in it is possessed of permanent duration. For example: the -Almighty bestows life, and Ahriman puts to death; life is the -creation of God, death that of Ahriman; God produced health, -Ahriman, pain and disease; the Bestower of blessings created -paradise, Ahriman, hell; the worship of the Lord is therefore -most meet, as his kingdom is immense; and Ahriman has no power, -except in the elemental world; in the next place, the spirit of -every one devoted to God ascends on high, but that of Ahriman’s -servants abides in hell. Wisdom therefore requires the man of -intelligence to separate himself from the Ahrimans; for although -the author of evil may afflict such a person, yet on being -delivered from the body, his soul ascends to Heaven, whither -Ahriman has not the power of coming. - -In some parts of the _Desnad_,[524] Mazdak says: “Existence -arises from two principles or sources, _Shíd_ and _Tár_,” _i. -e._: ‘light’ and ‘darkness,’ which he afterwards interprets to -mean God and Ahriman. He afterwards says: “The works of light -result from choice, but those of darkness from accident; light is -endued with knowledge and sensation, darkness is ignorant; the -mixture of light and darkness is accidental, and the -disengagement of light from darkness is also accidental, and not -the result of choice; whatever is good in this world is an -advantage emanating from light, whilst evil and corruption arise -from darkness; when the parts of light are separated from -darkness, the compound becomes dissolved, which means -resurrection.” Again, he says in the same volume: “There are -three roots, or principles: water, fire, and earth; when these -are blended together, the tendency to good or evil arising from -their mixture is also accidental; whatever results from their -purest parts tends to good, and whatever is derived from their -grosser parts tends to evil.” He says in the same volume: “God is -seated on a throne in the world, the source of all things, just -as kings are on the throne of sovereignty in the lower world. In -his presence are the four energies, namely, _Bázkushá_, or ‘power -of discrimination;’ _Yáddah_, or ‘power of memory;’ _Dáná_, or -‘faculty of comprehension;’ and _Surá_, or ‘gladness;’ in like -manner as the affairs of royalty turn on four persons: “the -Supreme Pontiff, the principal Hirbud, the commander in chief of -the forces, and the master of the revels. And these four persons -conduct the affairs of the world through the agency of seven -others, inferior to them in rank, namely, chieftain, -administrator, _Banúr_,[525] _Dairván_ (head of a monastery), -agent, _Dostúr_, and slave; which seven characters comprehend -under them the twelve _Rawání_, or ‘orbits’ of spirits, namely: -the speaker, giver, taker, bearer, eater, runner, grazer, slayer, -smiter, comer, goer, and abider. Whatever man unites in himself -the four energies, the seven agents, and the twelve qualities, -becomes in this lower world like a creator or protector, and is -delivered from all kinds of embarrassment.” - -It is also stated in the same volume: “Whatever is not according -with the light and agrees with darkness, becomes wrath, -destruction, and discord. And whereas almost all contentions -among mankind have been caused by riches and women, it is -therefore necessary to emancipate the female sex and have wealth -in common: he therefore made all men partners in riches and -women; just as they are of fire, water, and grass,” In the same -volume we find: “It is a great injustice that one man’s wife -should be altogether beautiful, whilst another’s is quite the -contrary; it therefore becomes imperative, on the score of -justice and true religion, for a good man to resign his lovely -wife for a short time to his neighbour, who has one both evil and -ugly; and also take to himself for a short time his neighbour’s -deformed consort.” - -Mazdak has also said: “It is altogether reprehensible and -improper that one man should hold a distinguished rank, and -another remain poor and destitute of resources: it is therefore -incumbent on the believer to divide his wealth with his -coreligionist; and so taught the religion of Zardusht, that he -should even send his wife to visit him, that he may not be -deprived of female society. But if his coreligionist should prove -unable to acquire wealth, or show proofs of extravagance, -infatuation, or insanity, he is to be confined to the house, and -measures adopted to provide him with food, clothing, and all -things requisite: whoever assents not to these arrangements is -consequently a follower of Ahriman’s, and they get contributions -from him by compulsion.” - -_Farhád_, _Shíráb_, and _Ayin Hoshpúyár_ adopted this creed; -besides these, _Muhammed Kúlí_ the Kurd, _Ismail Bég_, the -Georgian, and _Ahmadai of Tiran_ (a village near Ispahan) -possessed this faith. From them it has been ascertained, that the -followers of Mazdak do not at present assume the dress of Gebers, -but practise their religion secretly among the Muhammedans. They -also showed the author the volume of Mazdak, called the _Desnad_, -written in old Persian, which _Ayin Shakib_, the grandfather of -_Ayin Hosh_, translated into popular Persian. _Farhod_ was a man -of great intelligence, and assumed the name of _Muhammed Said -Beg_ among the Muhammedans: Shirab went under the name of _Shir -Muhammed_, and _Ayin Hosh_ under that of _Muhammed Akil_; and as -they were eminent in their peculiar science, they possessed the -volume called the _Desnád_. Such is the detailed account of the -Parsi systems, agreeably to the promise made in the beginning of -this work, into which not a single one has been admitted which -has not either been taken from their own books, or heard from the -followers of the respective creeds, as their enemies have, from -hostile motives, falsely ascribed to them various erroneous -doctrines.[526] - - - [524] Desnad, the volume which contains the doctrines of - Mazdak.――D. S. - - [525] A word not in the dictionaries; if derivable from बाण - _bána_, “an arrow,” it may signify “an archer, head-archer;” - if from बाणी _bání_, “speech,” it may be “a speaker, an - orator.”――A. T. - - [526] This first chapter of the Dabistán, here finished, - represents the Sabæismus, or the worship of the heavenly - bodies, and the formation of society by a race of kings, - called the Máhábádiáns, who were succeeded by the Péshdádiáns, - and other known dynasties of the Persian kings. We see laid - down the principal features of Asiatic monarchies which have - been preserved from times immemorial to our days. The - Dabistán, it is true, blends the ideas of more recent epochs - with those of the highest antiquity, and introduces sects of - later times, the origin of which he traces back to the times - of Abád, Húshang, and Zohák. It is however clear, that a - very ancient religion prevailed in Asia, consisting of two - principal points: the first was the adoration of the Creator - of all good, whose unity was acknowledged very early by the - enlightened class of men; the second point was the detestation - of the author of all physical and moral evil. This religion - inculcated purity of thoughts, words, and actions, and a - tender regard for animal life; not without a great number of - liturgical rites, dietetical observances, and other - regulating customs in private and public. We may comprise - under the general name of “Magismus” the fourteen religions - mentioned in this chapter, the last but one of which, - namely, that of Zardusht, appears to have been but a new - systematic arrangement, not without a partial reform, of the - old general religion of Asia, which has also been attributed - to a more ancient Zardusht. - - The duality of principle (good and bad) seems to come home - to the common feeling of mankind; but it implies metaphysical - questions about the creation, anteriority, posteriority, - derivation and duration of light and darkness, about which - the different sects are divided by their dogmas and - opinions. That of the Zardushtiáns derived from God light - and darkness, and considered the last as a shadow inseparable - from the body. Zardusht was a dualist, inasmuch as he - adopted light and darkness, as two eternal principles - opposed to each other, and also inasmuch as he taught two - immediate authors of good and evil, who were independent of, - and absolutely contrary to, each other: but he was an - unitarian, inasmuch as he subordinated these authors to the - eternal decrees of the Supreme Being, who to him was the - only principle of the universe, with respect not only to its - original creation, but also to all its physical and moral - accidents. - - Although subdivided into sects, Zardusht’s religion appears - to have been dominant, until the forcible introduction of - Muhammedanism among the Persians, and zealously supported by - the preaching of four wise men, called Sásán, who lived from - 240 to 643 of the Christian era. - - Here follow the principal epochs of the Zardushtián religion - from the time of Gushtasp to the end of the ancient Persian - monarchy: - - THE REIGNS OF ACCORDING TO FERDUSI. - - I. GUSHTASP _from_ 652 _to_ 505 B. C. Then lived Zardusht. - - II. ALEXANDER ―― 337-323 id. The First Sásan (Desátir, - pp. 185. 186). - - III. ARDESHIR BABEGAN ―― 200-240 A. D. Arda Viraf. - - IV. SHAPUR II ―― 240-271 id. } Arzabad, the son of - } Marasfand, Sásan II. - } (Desát, p. 188.) - V. BAHRAM, the son of } Mani. - Hormuzd ―― 272-276 id. } - - VI. KOBAD ―― 488-531 id. Sásan III. Mazdak. - - VII. KHOSRU PARVIS ―― 591-628 id. } The Fourth and the - VIII. YEZDEJERD ―― 632-652 id. } Fifth Sásan. - ――A. T. - - - -END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. - - - - -ERRATA. - - - P. 31 (note) last line. Instead of “He,” read “Hushang.” This - part of the note, to begin from “Hushang,” ought to have been - placed higher up, at the beginning of the last paragraph, - before “Jemshid,” also called “Jemshar.” - - P. 57 (note) l. 5. Instead of “assumed by,” read “given to.” - - - - -PARIS: - -Printed by Madame V^{e} DONDEY-DUPRÉ, - -46, rue St-Louis, au Marais. - - - - -Transcriber Note: - -This book was written in a period when many words had not become -standardized in their spelling. Words and names have multiple spelling -variations, inconsistent hyphenation and inconsistent accent marks. -Misspelled words in English, Greek, Persian and Sanskrit were left -unchanged. Accent marks for transliterations of Persian and Sandskrit -were standardized with accents placed above vowels, and letters d, t, -and s; a high comma precedes aspirated consonants, such as h, d, t, -and s. Words in italics are surrounded by underscores, _like this_. -Superscripts are within braces, preceded by a carat, e. g. 1^{er}. - -Duplicate words were removed. Obvious printing errors, such as upside -down, backwards, or missing letters, and letters in the wrong order, -were corrected. Spaces were added or removed between words, as -appropriate. Quotation marks and parentheses were adjusted to standard -usage. Missing stops were added to abbreviations and ends of -sentences. Missing commas were added between items in lists. Commas -were changed to stops at ends of sentences. - -Footnotes were numbered sequentially and were moved to the end of the -section in which they occurred. Anchors for Footnotes 69, 85, 192, 364, -479, 482, 489 are missing in the original; for 69, 85, 364, 489, -anchors were added where they likely belonged. Location for anchors -192 and 482 could not be determined. There are two anchors to -Footnotes 117, 138, and 232. - -Noted, not changed: - - The word “ibid” occasionally is not in italics. - III^{ter} Buch, should be des III^{ten} Buches, footnote 87. - For consistency, paragraph number V., should be 5., on page clxiv. - The word “sir” is occasionally lower case as a title. - Dots were used instead of ditto marks in footnote 499. - Page cite in footnote 105 should be 134, not 190, as printed. - In the errata at the end of the book, P. 31 (note) refers to footnote 256, - and P. 57 (note) refers to footnote 292. - -Other changes: - - Removed extraneous comma between “latter formed,” page lii. - Changed semicolon to full stop after “East India Company,” page clxxxix. - Changed colon to semicolon after the word “completed,” page 20. - Changed colon to semicolon in series of phrases in the quotation on page 150. - Changed stop to colon, third paragraph, page 196. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dabistán, Volume 1 (of 3), by -David Shea and Anthony Troyer and Muòhsin Fåanåi - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DABISTÁN, VOLUME 1 (OF 3) *** - -***** This file should be named 63275-0.txt or 63275-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/2/7/63275/ - -Produced by Édith Nolot, Bryan Ness, Carol Brown and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Dabistán, Volume 1 (of 3) - or School of manners, translated from the original Persian, - with notes and illus. - -Author: David Shea - Anthony Troyer - Muòhsin Fåanåi - -Release Date: September 23, 2020 [EBook #63275] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DABISTÁN, VOLUME 1 (OF 3) *** - - - - -Produced by Édith Nolot, Bryan Ness, Carol Brown and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h1 class="h1head">THE DABISTÁN,</h1> - -<h5 class="h5head">OR</h5> - -<h2 class="h2head">SCHOOL OF MANNERS.</h2> - -<p class="p4 center break"><span class="sc">Madame Veuve Dondey-Dupré</span>,<br /> -Printer to the Asiatic Societies of London, Paris, and Calcutta,<br /> -46, rue St-Louis, Paris.</p> - -<h5 class="p4 h5head break">THE</h5> - -<h2 class="h2head">DABISTÁN,</h2> - -<h5 class="h5head">OR</h5> - -<h2 class="h2head">SCHOOL OF MANNERS,</h2> - -<p class="center larger">TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL PERSIAN,</p> - -<p class="center large">WITH NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS,</p> - -<h5 class="h5head">BY</h5> - -<h3 class="h3head">DAVID SHEA,</h3> - -<p class="center">OF THE ORIENTAL DEPARTMENT IN THE HONORABLE EAST INDIA COMPANY’S -COLLEGE;</p> - -<h5 class="h5head">AND</h5> - -<h3 class="h3head">ANTHONY TROYER,</h3> - -<p class="center">MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETIES OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, OF -CALCUTTA AND PARIS, AND OF THE ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF PARIS;</p> - -<p class="center larger">EDITED, WITH A PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE, BY THE LATTER.</p> - -<hr class="short" /> - -<h3 class="h3head">VOLUME <abbr title="One">I.</abbr></h3> - -<p class="p4 center larger">PARIS:</p> - -<p class="center">PRINTED FOR THE ORIENTAL TRANSLATION FUND OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.</p> - -<p class="center smaller">SOLD BY<br /> - -BENJAMIN DUPRAT, BOOKSELLER TO THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE ROYALE,<br /> - -7, RUE DU CLOITRE SAINT-BENOIT.<br /> - -AND ALLEN AND CO., LEADENHALD-STREET, LONDON.</p> - -<hr class="short" /> - -<p class="center larger">1843.</p> -<!--blank page--> - -<p class="p4 center smaller break">TO</p> - -<p class="center black">The Memory</p> - -<p class="center smaller">OF</p> - -<p class="center">THE RIGHT HONORABLE</p> - -<p class="center larger">THE EARL OF MUNSTER,</p> - -<p class="center smaller"><span class="decoration">Etc., etc., etc.</span></p> -</div><!--end front matter--> - -<div class="chapter"><!--blank page--> - -<h3 class="p4 h3head">CONTENTS</h3> - -<p class="center larger"><span class="decoration">Of the Preliminary Discourse</span>.</p> - -<hr class="medium" /> - -<table summary=""> -<tr><td></td> - <td class="right smaller sr">Page</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="center" colspan="2">PART <abbr title="One">I.</abbr></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="lefthang" colspan="2">Introduction.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang"> Section</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="One">I.</abbr>—How the Dabistán first became known—its - author—the sources of his information</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_iii">iii</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Two">II.</abbr>—Discussion on the Desátir</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_xix">xix</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="center" colspan="3">PART <abbr title="Two">II.</abbr></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang">Synopsis of the dynasties, religions, sects, and philosophic opinions - treated of in the Dabistán.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang"> Section</td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="One">I.</abbr>—The first religion—the dynasties of Mahabad, - Abad Azar, Shai Abad, Shai Giliv, Shai Mahbad, - and Yasan</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_lxvi">lxvi</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Two">II.</abbr>—The Peshdadian, Kayanian, Ashkanian, and - Sassanian dynasties—their religious and - political institutions</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_lxxvii">lxxvii</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Three">III.</abbr>—The religion of Zardusht, or Zoroaster</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_lxxxiii">lxxxiii</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Four">IV.</abbr>—The religion of the Hindus</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_cv">cv</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Five">V.</abbr>—Retrospect of the Persian and Indian religions</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_cxx">cxx</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Six">VI.</abbr>—The religion of the Tabitian (Tibetans)</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_cxxv">cxxv</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Seven">VII.</abbr>—The religion of the Jews</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_cxxv"><cite>ibid.</cite></a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Eight">VIII.</abbr>—The religion of the Christians</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_cxxvi">cxxvi</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Nine">IX.</abbr>—The religion of the Muselmans</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_cxxviii">cxxviii</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Ten">X.</abbr>—The religion of the Sadakiahs</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_cxli">cxli</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Eleven">XI.</abbr>—The religion of the Roshenians</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_cxlv">cxlv</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Twelve">XII.</abbr>—The religion of the Ilahiahs</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_cxlvii">cxlvii</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Thirteen">XIII.</abbr>—The religion of the Philosophers</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_cliii">cliii</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Fourteen">XIV.</abbr>—The religion of the Súfis</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_clxix">clxix</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Fifteen">XV.</abbr>—Recapitulation of the Contents of the Dabistán</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_clxix"><cite>ibid.</cite></a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="center" colspan="3">PART <abbr title="Three">III.</abbr></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang" colspan="2">Conclusion.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang"> Section</td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="One">I.</abbr>—General appreciation of the Dabistán and its - author</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_clxxix">clxxix</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Two">II.</abbr>—Notice concerning the printed edition, some - manuscripts, and the translations of the - Dabistán</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_clxxxviii">clxxxviii</a></td></tr> -</table> - - -<h3 class="p4 h3head break">CONTENTS</h3> - -<p class="center larger"><span class="decoration">Of the Dabistán (<abbr title="volume one">vol. I.</abbr>)</span></p> - -<hr class="medium" /> -<table summary=""> - -<tr><td></td> - <td class="right smaller sr">Page</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="lefthang">Introduction of the Author</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="center" colspan="2">CHAPTER <abbr title="One">I.</abbr></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="lefthang">Of the religion of the Parsian</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_4">4</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="lefthang">Section</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="One">I.</abbr>—Tenets and ceremonies observed by the Sipasian and - Parsian</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_5">5</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="leftindent2">Description of the worship rendered to the seven planets, - according to the Sipasian faith</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Two">II.</abbr>—Description of the Sipasian sect</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_87">87</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Three">III.</abbr>—The laws of the Paiman-i-Farhang and the Hirbed Sár</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="leftindent2">Descriptions of the gradations of Paradise</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_150">150</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="leftindent2">Description of the infernal regions</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_152">152</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Four">IV.</abbr>—An account of the Jamshapian sect</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_193">193</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Five">V.</abbr>—The Samradian sect</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_195">195</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Six">VI.</abbr>—The tenets of the Khodaiyan</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_201">201</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Seven">VII.</abbr>—The system of the Rádián</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_201"><cite>ibid.</cite></a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Eight">VIII.</abbr>—The Shidrangián creed</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_203">203</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Nine">IX.</abbr>—The Páikárian creed</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_203"><cite>ibid.</cite></a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Ten">X.</abbr>—The Milánián system</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_204">204</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Eleven">XI.</abbr>—The system of the followers of Alár</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_206">206</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Twelve">XII.</abbr>—The Shidanian faith</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_207">207</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Thirteen">XIII.</abbr>—The system of the Akhshiyán sect</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_207"><cite>ibid.</cite></a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Fourteen">XIV.</abbr>—The followers of Zardusht</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_211">211</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="leftindent2">Account of the precepts given by Zardusht to the - king and all mankind </td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_260">260</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="leftindent2">The Sad-der, or “the hundred gates” of Zardusht</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_310">310</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="leftindent2">Enumeration of some advantages which arise from - the enigmatical forms of the precepts of Zardusht’s - followers</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_351">351</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="leftindent2">Summary of the contents of the Mah-zend</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_353">353</a></td></tr> -<tr><td class="lefthang5"><abbr title="Fifteen">XV.</abbr>—An account of the tenets held by the followers of - Mazdak</td> - <td class="right"><a href="#Page_372">372</a></td></tr> -</table> -</div><!--end front matter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii"></a><span class="pageno">iii</span> - -<h3 class="p4 h3head">PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.</h3> - -<hr class="medium" /> - -<h3 class="p2 h3head">PART <abbr title="One">I.</abbr></h3> - -<p class="center hanging larger">INTRODUCTION.</p> - -<p class="p2 unindent hanging"><abbr title="Section One">§ I.</abbr>—<span class="sc">How the Dabistan first became known—its -author—the sources of his information.</span></p> - -<p class="p2">It is generally known that sir William Jones was -the first who drew the attention of Orientalists to -the Dabistán. This happened five years after the -beginning of a new era in Oriental literature, the -foundation of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta by that -illustrious man. It may not appear inopportune -here to revive the grateful remembrance of one who -acquired the uncontested merit of not only exciting -in Asia and Europe a new ardor for Oriental studies, -but also of directing them to their great objects—<span class="muchsmaller">MAN</span> -and <span class="muchsmaller">NATURE</span>; and of endeavoring, by -word and deed, to render the attainment of languages -conducive to the required knowledge equally -easy and attractive.</p> - -<p><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv"></a><span class="pageno">iv</span> -Having, very early in life, gained an European -reputation as a scholar and elegant writer, sir William -Jones embarked<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_1" id="fnanchor_1"></a><a href="#footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></span> for the Indian shores with -vast projects, embracing, with the extension of science, -the general improvement of mankind.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_2" id="fnanchor_2"></a><a href="#footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></span> Four -months after his arrival in Calcutta,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_3" id="fnanchor_3"></a><a href="#footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></span> he addressed -as the first president of the Asiatic Society, a small -but select assembly, in which he found minds -responsive to his own noble sentiments. A rapid -sketch of the first labors of their incomparable -leader, may not be irrelevant to our immediate -subject.</p> - -<p>In his second anniversary discourse,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_4" id="fnanchor_4"></a><a href="#footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></span> he proposed -a general plan for investigating Asiatic learning, -history, and institutions. In his third discourse, he -traced the line of investigation, which he faithfully -followed, as long as he lived in India, in his annual -public speeches: he determined to exhibit the prominent -features of the five principal nations of Asia—the -Indians, Arabs, Tartars, Persians, and Chinese. -After having treated in the two following -years of the Arabs and Tartars, he considered in his -sixth discourse<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_5" id="fnanchor_5"></a><a href="#footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></span> the Persians, and declared that he -<a name="Page_v" id="Page_v"></a><span class="pageno">v</span> -had been induced by his earliest investigations to -believe, and by his latest to conclude, that three -primitive races of men must have migrated originally -from a central country, and that this country -was <span class="place">Iran</span>, commonly called Persia. Examining with -particular care the traces of the most ancient languages -and religions which had prevailed in this -country, he rejoiced at “a fortunate discovery, for -which,” he said, “he was first indebted to Mir -Muhammed Hussain, one of the most intelligent -Muselmans in India, and which has at once dissipated -the cloud, and cast a gleam of light on the -primeval history of Iran and of the human race, -of which he had long despaired, and which could -hardly have dawned from any other quarter;” -this was, he declared, “the rare and interesting -tract on twelve different religions, entitled the -<span class="sc">Dabistan</span>.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_6" id="fnanchor_6"></a><a href="#footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></span></p> - -<p>Sir William Jones read the Dabistán for the first -time in 1787. I cannot refrain from subjoining here -the opinion upon this work, which he communicated -in a private letter, dated June, 1787, to J. Shore, -<abbr title="esquire">esq.</abbr> (afterwards lord Teignmouth); he says: “The -greatest part of it would be very interesting to a -curious reader, but some of it cannot be translated. -It contains more recondite learning, more entertaining -<a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi"></a><span class="pageno">vi</span> -history, more beautiful specimens of poetry, -more ingenuity and wit, more indecency and blasphemy, -than I ever saw collected in a single volume;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_7" id="fnanchor_7"></a><a href="#footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></span> -the two last are not of the author’s, but -are introduced in the chapters on the heretics and -infidels of India.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_8" id="fnanchor_8"></a><a href="#footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></span> On the whole, it is the most -amusing and instructive book I ever read in Persian.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_9" id="fnanchor_9"></a><a href="#footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></span></p> - -<p>We may suppose it was upon the recommendation -of sir William Jones, that Francis Gladwin, one of -the most distinguished members of the new Society, -translated the first chapter of <span class="title">The Dabistán</span>, or -“School of Manners,” which title has been preserved -from due regard to the meritorious Orientalist, who -first published the translation of a part of this work. -The whole of it was printed in the year 1809, in -Calcutta, and translations of some parts of it were -published in <cite>The Asiatic Researches</cite>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_10" id="fnanchor_10"></a><a href="#footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></span> -It is only at -present, more than half a century after the first -public notice of it by sir W. Jones, that the version -<a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii"></a><span class="pageno">vii</span> -of the whole work appears, under the auspices and -at the expense of the Oriental Translation Committee -of Great Britain and Ireland.</p> - -<p>Who was the author of the Dabistán?—Sir William -Jones thought it was composed by a Muhammedan -traveller, a native of Kachmir, named <span class="person">Mohsan</span>, -but distinguished by the assumed surname of -<span class="title">Fání</span>, “the Perishable.”</p> - -<p>Gladwin<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_11" id="fnanchor_11"></a><a href="#footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></span> -calls him <span class="title">Shaikh Muhammed Mohsin</span>, and -says that, besides the Dabistán, he has left behind -him a collection of poems, among which there is a -moral essay, entitled <span class="title">Masdur ul asas</span>, “the source of -signs;” he was of the philosophic sect of Súfis, -and patronised by the imperial prince <span class="person">Dara Shikoh</span>, -whom he survived; among his disciples in philosophy -is reckoned <span class="person">Muhammed Tahir</span>, surnamed <span class="title">Ghawri</span>, -whose poems are much admired in Hindostan. -Mohsan’s death is placed in the year of the Hejira -1081 (A. D. 1670).</p> - -<p>William Erskine,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_12" id="fnanchor_12"></a><a href="#footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></span> -in search of the true author of -the Dabistán, discovered no other account of Mohsan -Fání than that contained in the <span class="title">Gul-i-Râana</span>, “charming -rose,” of <span class="person">Lachmi Narayán</span>, who flourished in -Hyderabad about the end of the 18th or the beginning -of the 19th century. This author informs us, -under the article of Mohsan Fání, that “Mohsán, a -<a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii"></a><span class="pageno">viii</span> -native of Kachmir, was a learned man and a -respectable poet; a scholar of <span class="person">Mulla Yakub</span>, Súfi of -Kachmir; and that, after completing his studies, -he repaired to Delhi, to the court of the emperor -<span class="person">Shah Jehan</span>, by whom, in consequence of his great -reputation and high acquirements, he was appointed -<span class="title">Sadder</span>, ‘chief judge,’ of Allahabad; that -there he became a disciple of Shaikh <span class="person">Mohib ulla</span>, -an eminent doctor of that city, who wrote the -treatise entitled <span class="title">Teswich</span>, ‘the golden Mean.’ -Mohsan Fání enjoyed this honorable office till -Shah Jehân subdued Balkh; at which time <span class="person">Nazer -Muhammed Khan</span>, the Wali, ‘prince,’ of Balkh, -having effected his escape, all his property was -plundered. It happened that in his library there -was found a copy of Mohsan’s Diwán, or ‘poetical -Collection,’ which contained an ode in praise -of the (fugitive) Wáli. This gave such offence -to the emperor, that the Sadder was disgraced and -lost his office, but was generously allowed a pension. -He retired (as Lachmi informs us) to his -native country, where he passed the rest of his -days without any public employment, happy and -respected. His house was frequented by the -most distinguished men of Kachmir, and among -the rest by the governors of the province. He -had lectures at his house, being accustomed to -read to his audience the writings of certain authors -<a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix"></a><span class="pageno">ix</span> -of eminence, on which he delivered moral and -philosophical comments. Several scholars of note, -among whom were Taher Ghawri (before mentioned) -and <span class="person">Haji Aslem Salem</span>, issued from his -school.” He died on the before mentioned date. -“It is to be observed that Lachmi does not mention -the Dabistán as a production of Mohsan Fání, -though, had he written it, it must have been his -most remarkable work.”</p> - -<p>Erskine goes on to recapitulate some particulars -mentioned in the Dabistán of the author’s life, and -concludes that it seems very improbable that Mohsan -Fání and the author of the Dabistán were the same -person. In this conclusion, and upon the same -grounds, he coincides with the learned Vans Kennedy.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_13" id="fnanchor_13"></a><a href="#footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></span></p> - -<p>Erskine further quotes,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_14" id="fnanchor_14"></a><a href="#footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></span> -from a manuscript copy -of the Dabistán which he saw in the possession of -Mulla Firuz, in Bombay, the following marginal note -annexed to the close of chapter <abbr title="Fourteen">XIV.</abbr>: “In the city -of Daurse, a king of the Parsis, of the race of the -imperial Anushirván, the Shet Dawer Huryár, -conversed with <span class="person">Amír Zulfikar Ali-al-Husaini</span> (on -whom be the grace of God!), whose poetical -name was Mobed Shah.” This Zulfikar Ali, whoever -he was, the Mulla supposes to be the author of -<a name="Page_x" id="Page_x"></a><span class="pageno">x</span> -the Dabistán. Erskine judiciously subjoins: “On so -slight an authority, I would not willingly set up an -unknown author as the compiler of that work; but -it is to be remarked that many verses of Mobed’s -are quoted in the Dabistán, and there is certainly -reason to suspect that the poetical Mobed, whoever -he may be, was the author of that compilation.”</p> - -<p>“To this let it be added, that the author of the -Dabistán; in his account of Mobed Serosh, says<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_15" id="fnanchor_15"></a><a href="#footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></span> -that one Muhammed Mohsan, a man of learning, -told him that he had heard Mobed Serosh give -three hundred and sixty proofs of the existence -of God. This at least makes Muhammed Mohsan, -whoever he may be, a different person from the -author of the Dabistán.”</p> - -<p>I cannot omit adding the following notice annexed -to the note quoted above: “Between the printed -copy and Mulla Firuz’s manuscript before alluded -to, a difference occurs in the very beginning of -the work. After the poetical address to the -Deity and the praise of the prophet, with which -the Dabistán, like most other Muselman works, -commences, the manuscript reads: ‘Mohsan Fani -says,’ and two moral couplets succeed. In the -printed copy, the words ‘Mohsan Fani says,’—which -<a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi"></a><span class="pageno">xi</span> -should occur between the last word of the -first page and the first word of the second—are -omitted. As no account of the author is given -in the beginning of the book, as is usual with -Muselman writers, Mulla Firuz conjectures that a -careless or ignorant reader may have considered -the words ‘Mohsan Fáni says’ as forming the -commencement of the volume, and as containing -the name of the author of the whole book; whereas -they merely indicate the author of the couplets -that follow, and would rather show that Mohsan -Fani was not the writer of the Dabistán. This -conjecture, I confess, appears to me at once -extremely ingenious and very probable. A comparison -of different manuscripts might throw -more light on the question.”</p> - -<p>Concerning the opinion last stated, I can but remark, -that in a manuscript copy of the Dabistán, -which I procured from the library of the king of -Oude, and caused to be transcribed for me, the very -same words: “Mohsan Fani says,” occur (as I have -observed in <abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 6, note 3), preceding a <dfn>rabaâ</dfn>, -or quatrain, which begins:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“The world is a book full of knowledge and of justice,” etc. etc.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>These lines seem well chosen as an introduction -to the text itself, which begins by a summary of the -whole work, exhibiting the titles of the twelve chapters -of which it is composed. As the two copies -<a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii"></a><span class="pageno">xii</span> -mentioned (the one found in Bombay, the other in -Lucknow) contain the same words, they can hardly -be taken for an accidental addition of a copyist. I -found no remark upon this point in Mr. Shea’s -translation, who had two manuscript copies to refer -to. Whatever it be, it must still remain undecided, -whether Mohsan Fani was there named only -as the author of the next quatrain or of the whole -book, although either hypothesis may not appear -destitute of probability; nor can it be considered -strange to admit that the name of Mohsan Fani was -borne by more than one individual. I shall be permitted -to continue calling the author of the Dabistán -by the presumed name of Mohsan Fani.</p> - -<p>Dropping this point, we shall now search for -information upon his person, character, and knowledge -in the work itself. Is he really a native of -Kachmir, as here before stated?</p> - -<p>Although in the course of his book he makes frequent -mention of Kachmir, he never owns himself -a native of that country. In one part of his narrative, -he expressly alludes to another home. He -begins the second chapter upon the religion of the -Hindus (<abbr title="volume two page">vol. II. p.</abbr> 2) by these words: “As inconstant -fortune had torn away the author from the -shores of Persia, and made him the associate of -the believers in transmigration and those who -addressed their prayers to idols and images, and -<a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii"></a><span class="pageno">xiii</span> -worshipped demons * * * *.” Now we know that -Kachmir is considered as a very ancient seat, nay -as the very cradle, of the doctrine of transmigration, -and of Hinduism in general, with all its tenets, rites, -and customs; and that from the remotest times -to the present it was inhabited by numerous adherents -of this faith; how could the author, if a native -of Kachmir, accuse inconstant fortune for having -made him elsewhere an associate of these very religionists -with whom, from his birth, he must have -been accustomed to live? The passage just quoted -leaves scarce a doubt that the shores of Persia, from -which he bewails having been torn, were really his -native country.</p> - -<p class="p2">When was he born?</p> - -<p>He no where adduces the date of his birth; the -earliest period of his life which he mentions, is the -year of the Hejira 1028 (A. D. 1618):<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_16" id="fnanchor_16"></a><a href="#footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></span> -in this year -the Mobed Hushíar brought the author to Balik -Nátha, a great adept in the Yoga, or ascetic devotion, -to receive the blessing of that holy man, who pronounced -these words over him: “This boy shall -acquire the knowledge of God.” It is not stated in -what place this happened. The next earliest date -is five years later, 1033 of the Hejira (A. D. 1623).<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_17" id="fnanchor_17"></a><a href="#footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></span> -<a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv"></a><span class="pageno">xiv</span> -He says that, in his infancy, he came with his friends -and relations from Patna to the capital Akbar-abad, -and was carried in the arms of the Mobed Hushíar -to Chatur Vapah, a famous ascetic of those days. -The pious man rejoiced at it, and bestowed his blessing -on the future writer of the Dabistán; he taught -him the <dfn>mantra</dfn>, “prayer,” of the sun, and appointed -one of his disciples to remain with the boy until the -age of manhood. We have here a positive statement: -in the year 1623 A. D., he was “in his -infancy,” and carried “in the arms of his protector.” -Giving the widest extension to these -expressions, we can hardly think him to have been -either much older or younger than seven or eight -years: not much older, for being in some way carried -in the arms of the Mobed; nor much younger, -having been taught a hymn to the sun, and he might -have been a boy of three years when he received the -first-mentioned blessing from Balik Natha. We -may therefore suppose him to have been born about -the year 1615 of our era, in the tenth year of the -reign of the emperor Jehangir. We collect in his -work fifty-three dates relative to himself between -the year 1618 and 1653. From 1627 to 1643, we -see him mostly in Kachmir and Lahore, travelling -between these two places; in 1643, he was at -the holy sepulchre, probably at Meshhad, which -appears to be the furthermost town to the West -<a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv"></a><span class="pageno">xv</span> -which he reached; from 1634 to 1649, he dwelt in -several towns of the Panjab and Guzerat; the next -year he proceeded to Sikakul, the remotest town in -the East which he says he has visited; there he fell -sick, and sojourned during 1653, at which epoch, if -the year of his birth be correctly inferred, he had -attained his thirty-eighth year. We have no other -date of his death than that before stated: if he died -in 1670, it was in the eleventh year of the reign of -Aurengzéb, or Alemgir. Mohsan Fani would therefore -have passed his infancy, youth, and manhood -mostly in India, under the reigns of the three emperors, -Jehangír, Shah Jehan, and Aurengzeb.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_18" id="fnanchor_18"></a><a href="#footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></span> It -was the state of religion, prevailing in those days in -Hindostan that he describes.</p> - -<p>From his earliest age he appears to have led an -active life, frequently changing his residence. Such -a mode of life belongs to a travelling merchant or -philosopher, and in our author both qualities might -have been united, as is often the case in Asia. Mohsan -Fani, during his travels, collected the diversified -and curious materials for the Dabistán; he observed -with his own eyes the manners and customs of different -nations and sects. He says himself at the -conclusion of his work: “After having much frequented -the meetings of the followers of the five -<a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi"></a><span class="pageno">xvi</span> -before-said religions,” Magians, Hindus, Jews, -Nazareans, and Muselmans, “the author wished -and undertook to write this book; and whatever -in this work, treating of the religions of different -countries, is stated concerning the creed -of different sects, has been taken from their -books, and for the account of the persons belonging -to any particular sect, the author’s information -was imparted to him by their adherents and -sincere friends, and recorded literally, so that no -trace of partiality nor aversion might be perceived: -in short, the writer of these pages performed no -more than the task of a translator.” This declaration, -even to a severe critic, may appear satisfactory. -Sir William Jones called him<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_19" id="fnanchor_19"></a><a href="#footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></span> a learned and -accurate, a candid and ingenious author. A further -appreciation of Mohsan Fani’s character is -reserved for subsequent pages. We can, however, -here state, that he sought the best means of information, -and gives us what he had acquired not only -from personal experience, which is always more or -less confined; not only from oral instruction, which -is too often imperfectly given and received; but also -from an attentive perusal of the best works which -he could procure upon the subject of his investigation. -Of the latter authorities which the author -produces, some are known in Europe, and we may -<a name="Page_xvii" id="Page_xvii"></a><span class="pageno">xvii</span> -judge of the degree of accuracy and intelligence with -which he has made use of them. Of others, nothing -at all, or merely the name, is known. This is -generally the case with works relative to the old -Persian religion, which is the subject of the first -chapter, divided into fifteen sections.</p> - -<p>The authorities which he adduces for this chapter -are as follow:</p> - -<p class="hanging">1. The <span class="title">Amighistan</span> (<abbr title="volume one pages">vol. I. pp.</abbr> 15. 26. 42), without -the name of its author.</p> - -<p class="hanging">2. The <span class="title">Desátir</span> (<abbr title="volume one pages">vol. I. pp.</abbr> 20. 21. 44. 65), an heaven-bestowed -book.</p> - -<p class="hanging">3. The <span class="title">Darai Sekander</span> (<abbr title="volume one pages">vol. I. pp.</abbr> 34. 360), composed -by Dáwir Háryar.</p> - -<p class="hanging">4. The <span class="title">Akhteristan</span>, “region of the stars” (<abbr title="volume one pages">vol. I. -pp.</abbr> 35. 42).</p> - -<p class="hanging">5. The <span class="title">Jashen Sadah</span>, “the festival of Sadah” (the -16th night of January) (<abbr title="volume one pages">vol. I. pp.</abbr> 72. 112).</p> - -<p class="hanging">6. The <span class="title">Sárud-i-mastan</span>, “song of the intoxicated” -(<abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 76. <abbr title="volume two page">vol. II. p.</abbr> 136): this and the -preceding work composed by Mobed Hushíar.</p> - -<p class="hanging">7. The <span class="title">Jam-i-Kai Khusro</span>, “the cup of Kai Khusro,” -a commentary upon the poems of Azar Kaivan, -composed by Mobed Khod Jai (<abbr title="volume one pages">vol. I. pp.</abbr> 76. -84. 119.)</p> - -<p class="hanging">8. The <span class="title">Sharistan-i-Danish wa Gulistan-i-binish</span>, “the -pavilion of knowledge and rose-garden of -<a name="Page_xviii" id="Page_xviii"></a><span class="pageno">xviii</span> -vision” (<abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 77. 89. 109), composed -by Farzanah Bahram.</p> - -<p class="hanging">9. The <span class="title">Zerdusht Afshar</span> (<abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 77), work of the -Mobed Serosh, who composed also:</p> - -<p class="hanging">10. <span class="title">Nosh Daru</span>, “sweet medicine” (<abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 114); and</p> - -<p class="hanging">11. The <span class="title">Sagangubin</span>, “dog’s honey” (<abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 114).</p> - -<p class="hanging">12. The <span class="title">Bazm-gah-i-durvishan</span>, “the banquetting-room -of the durvishes” (<abbr title="volume one pages">vol. I. pp.</abbr> 104. -108), without the name of the author.</p> - -<p class="hanging">13. The <span class="title">Arzhang Mani</span>, “the gallery of Mani” (<abbr title="volume One page">vol. I. -p.</abbr> 131).</p> - -<p class="hanging">14. The <span class="title">Tabrah-i-Mobedi</span>, “the sacerdotal kettle-drum” -(<abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 123), by Mobed Paristar.</p> - -<p class="hanging">15. The <span class="title">Dadistan Aursah</span> (<abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 131).</p> - -<p class="hanging">16. The <span class="title">Amízesh-i-farhang</span> (<abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 145), containing -the institutes of the Abadiah durvishes.</p> - -<p class="hanging">17. The <span class="title">Míhín farush</span> (<abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 244).</p> - -<p class="hanging">18. The <span class="title">Testament of Jamshid to Abtin</span> (<abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 195), -compiled by Farhang Dostúr.</p> - -<p class="hanging">19. <span class="title">Razabad</span>, composed by Shídab.</p> - -<p class="hanging">20. The <span class="title">Sányál</span>, a book of the Sipasians (<abbr title="volume Two, page">vol. II. -p.</abbr> 136), containing an account of a particular -sort of devotion.</p> - -<p class="hanging">21. The <span class="title">Rama zastan</span> of Zardusht (<abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 369 and -<abbr title="volume two page">vol. II. p.</abbr> 136).</p> - -<p class="hanging">22. <span class="title">Huz al Hayat</span> (<abbr title="volume two page">vol. II. p.</abbr> 137), composed by -Ambaret Kant.</p> - -<p class="hanging">23. The <span class="title">Samrad Nameh</span>, by Kamkar (<abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 201).</p> - -<p><a name="Page_xix" id="Page_xix"></a><span class="pageno">xix</span> -Besides other writings of Zertusht, in great number, -which the author has seen.</p> - -<p>These works are most probably of a mystical -nature, and belong to a particular sect, but may -contain, however, some interesting traditions or -facts of ancient history. Of the twenty-three books -just enumerated, a part of the third only is known -to us, namely, that of the Desátir.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_1" id="footnote_1"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_1"><span class="muchsmaller">[1]</span></a> - In April, 1783.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_2" id="footnote_2"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_2"><span class="muchsmaller">[2]</span></a> - He landed at Calcutta in September, 1783.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_3" id="footnote_3"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_3"><span class="muchsmaller">[3]</span></a> - In January, 1784.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_4" id="footnote_4"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_4"><span class="muchsmaller">[4]</span></a> - Delivered in February, 1785.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_5" id="footnote_5"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_5"><span class="muchsmaller">[5]</span></a> - In February, 1789.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_6" id="footnote_6"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_6"><span class="muchsmaller">[6]</span></a> - The works of sir William Jones, with the life of the author, by lord -Teignmouth, in 13 <abbr title="volumes, Volume Three page">vols. Vol. III. p.</abbr> 110. 1807.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_7" id="footnote_7"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_7"><span class="muchsmaller">[7]</span></a> - I shall hereafter give some explanations upon this subject.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_8" id="footnote_8"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_8"><span class="muchsmaller">[8]</span></a> - There appears in the printed edition no positive ground for the opinion -above expressed; we find, however, frequent repetitions of the same -subject, such as are not likely to belong to the same author; we know, -besides, that additions and interpolations are but too common in all -Oriental manuscripts.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_9" id="footnote_9"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_9"><span class="muchsmaller">[9]</span></a> - The Persian text, with the translation of the first chapter, appeared -in the two first numbers of the <cite>New Asiatic Miscellany</cite>. Calcutta, 1789. -This English version was rendered into German by Dalberg, 1809.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_10" id="footnote_10"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_10"><span class="muchsmaller">[10]</span></a> - These translations are mentioned in the notes of the present version.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_11" id="footnote_11"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_11"><span class="muchsmaller">[11]</span></a> - New Asiatic <abbr title="Miscellany, page">Misc., p.</abbr> 87.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_12" id="footnote_12"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_12"><span class="muchsmaller">[12]</span></a> - Transactions of the Literary Society of Bombay, <abbr title="volume two page">vol. II. p.</abbr> 374.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_13" id="footnote_13"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_13"><span class="muchsmaller">[13]</span></a> - Transactions of the Literary Society of Bombay, <abbr title="volume two pages">vol. II. pp.</abbr> 243-244.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_14" id="footnote_14"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_14"><span class="muchsmaller">[14]</span></a> - Ibid., <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 375-376.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_15" id="footnote_15"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_15"><span class="muchsmaller">[15]</span></a> - See the present <abbr title="Translation, volume one pages">Transl., vol. I. pp.</abbr> 113-114. A mistake is here to be -pointed out: at <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 114, <abbr title="line">l.</abbr> 11, the name of <a href="#Kaivan">Kaivan</a> has been substituted -for that of Mobed Serosh.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_16" id="footnote_16"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_16"><span class="muchsmaller">[16]</span></a> - See <abbr title="volume two page">vol. II. p.</abbr> 137.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_17" id="footnote_17"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_17"><span class="muchsmaller">[17]</span></a> - See <abbr title="volume two page">vol. II. p.</abbr> 145.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_18" id="footnote_18"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_18"><span class="muchsmaller">[18]</span></a></p> - -<table class="fn2"> -<tr><td class="leftw" colspan="2">Jehangír reigned from</td><td class="center">1605</td><td class="center">to</td><td class="center">1628.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="leftw">Shah Jehan</td><td class="center">—</td><td class="center">1628</td><td class="center">—</td><td class="center">1659.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="leftw">Aurengzeb</td><td class="center">—</td><td class="center">1659</td><td class="center">—</td><td class="center">1707.</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_19" id="footnote_19"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_19"><span class="muchsmaller">[19]</span></a> - The Works of sir W. Jones, <abbr title="volume four pages">vol. IV. pp.</abbr> 16 and 105.</p> - -<hr class="short" /> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center"><abbr title="Section Two">§ II.</abbr>—<span class="sc">Discussion on the Desatir.</span></p> - -<p class="p2">This word was considered to be the Arabic plural -of the original Persian word <dfn>dostúr</dfn>, signifying “a -note-book, pillar, canon, model, learned man;” -but, according to the Persian grammar, its plural -would be <dfn>dosturán</dfn>, or <dfn>dostúrha</dfn>, and not <dfn>desátir</dfn>. -From this Arabic form of the word an inference was -drawn against the originality and antiquity of the -Desátir; but this of itself is not sufficient, as will -be shown.</p> - -<p>Other readings of the title are <span class="title">Dastánir</span>, in one -passage,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_20" id="fnanchor_20"></a><a href="#footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></span> -and <span class="title">Wasátir</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_21" id="fnanchor_21"></a><a href="#footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></span> -in two other places of Gladwin’s -Persian text, and the last also in a passage of -the printed edition.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_22" id="fnanchor_22"></a><a href="#footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></span> The first is not easily accounted -<a name="Page_xx" id="Page_xx"></a><span class="pageno">xx</span> -for, and is probably erroneous; but the second is -found in the index of the printed edition,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_23" id="fnanchor_23"></a><a href="#footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></span> under the -letter <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">و</span>, <dfn>vau</dfn>, and explained: “the name of the book -of Mahabad;” it cannot therefore be taken for a -typographical error, and is the correct title of the -book, as I now think, although I formerly<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_24" id="fnanchor_24"></a><a href="#footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></span> preferred -reading <span class="title">Desátir</span>. It is derivable from the -Sansrcit root <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">वाश्</span> <dfn>wás</dfn>, “to sound, to call,” and -therefore in the form of <dfn>wasátis</dfn> or <dfn>wasâtir</dfn> (the <dfn>r</dfn> and -<dfn>s</dfn> being frequently substituted for the <dfn>visarga</dfn>) it signifies -“speech, oracle, precept, command.” It is -also in connection with the old Persian word <dfn>wakshur</dfn>, -“a prophet.” Considering the frequent substitution -in kindred languages of <dfn>ba</dfn> for <dfn>va</dfn>, and <dfn>ba</dfn> -for <dfn>bha</dfn>, it may also be referred to the root <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">भाष</span> <dfn>bhasha</dfn>, -“to speak,”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_25" id="fnanchor_25"></a><a href="#footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></span> which, with the prepositions <dfn>pari</dfn> -and <dfn>sam</dfn>, signifies “to explain, expound, discourse.” -Hence we read in the Commentary of the <span class="title">Desátir</span> -the ancient Persian word <dfn>basátir</dfn><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_26" id="fnanchor_26"></a><a href="#footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></span> (not to be found in -modern Persian vocabularies), which is there interpreted -by “speculations,” in the following passage: -<a name="Page_xxi" id="Page_xxi"></a><span class="pageno">xxi</span> -“the speculations (basátir) which I have written on -the <span class="title">desátir</span>.”</p> - -<p>I shall nevertheless keep, in the ensuing Dissertation, -the title Desátir, because it is generally -adopted. Besides, in the Mahabádian text, the <dfn>vau</dfn>, -<span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">و</span>, frequently occurs for the Persian <dfn>dál</dfn>, <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">د</span>, thus -we find <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">وادن</span>, <dfn>wáden</dfn>, for <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">دادن</span>, <dfn>dáden</dfn>, “to give;” -and <dfn>wárem</dfn>, <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">وارم</span>, for <dfn>dárem</dfn>, <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">دارم</span>, “I have;” but -I am aware that the two letters, so similar in their -form, may be easily confounded with each other by -the copyist or printer.</p> - -<p>The extract from the Desátir contained in the -Dabistán was thought worthy of the greatest attention -by sir William Jones, as before mentioned; nay, -appeared to him “an unexceptionable authority,” -before a part of the Desátir itself was published in -Bombay, in the year 1818, that is, twenty-four years -after the death of that eminent man.</p> - -<p>The author of the Dabistán mentions the Desátir -as a work well known among the Sipasians, that is, -the adherents of the most ancient religion of Persia. -According to his statement, the emperor Akbar -conversed frequently with the fire-adorers of Guzerat; -he also called from Persia a follower of Zerdusht, -named <span class="person">Ardeshir</span>, and invited fire-worshippers -from Kirman to his court, and received their religious -books from that country; we may suppose the -<a name="Page_xxii" id="Page_xxii"></a><span class="pageno">xxii</span> -Desátir was among them. So much is positive, -that it is quoted in the <cite>Sharistan chehar chemen</cite>, a -work composed by a celebrated doctor who lived -under the reigns of the emperors Akbar and Jehangír, -and died A. D. 1624. The compiler of the -Burhani Kati, a Persian Dictionary, to be compared -to the Arabic <dfn>Kamus</dfn>, or “sea of language,” quotes -and explains a great number of obsolete words and -philosophic terms upon the authority of the Desátir: -this evidently proves the great esteem in which this -work was held. Let it be considered that a dictionary -is not destined for the use of a sect merely, -but of the whole nation that speaks the language, and -this is the Persian, considered, even by the Arabs, -as the second language in the world and in paradise.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_27" id="fnanchor_27"></a><a href="#footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></span></p> - -<p>It is to be regretted that Mohsan Fani did not -relate where and how he himself became acquainted -with the Desátir. I see no sufficient ground for the -supposition of Silvestre de Sacy<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_28" id="fnanchor_28"></a><a href="#footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></span> and an anonymous -critic,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_29" id="fnanchor_29"></a><a href="#footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></span> that the author of the Dabistán never -saw the Desátir. So much is certain, that the account -which he gives of the Mahabádian religion -<a name="Page_xxiii" id="Page_xxiii"></a><span class="pageno">xxiii</span> -coincides in every material point with that which is -contained in that part of the sacred book which was -edited in Bombay by <span class="person">Mulla Firuz Bin-i-Kaus</span>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_30" id="fnanchor_30"></a><a href="#footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></span></p> - -<p>This editor says in his preface (<abbr title="page six">p. vi</abbr>): “The -Desátir is known to have existed for many years, -and has frequently been referred to by Persian -writers, though, as it was regarded as the sacred -volume of a particular sect, it seems to have been -guarded with that jealous care and that incommunicative -spirit, that have particularly distinguished -the religious sects of the East. We can -only fairly expect, therefore, that the contents -should be known to the followers of the sect.” -Mulla Firuz employs here evidently the term <dfn>sect</dfn> -with respect to the dominant religion of the Muhammedan -conquerors, whose violent and powerful intolerance -reduced the still faithful followers of the -ancient national religion to undergo the fate of a -persecuted sect. But we shall see that the doctrine -of the Desátir is justly entitled to a much higher -pretension than to be that of an obscure sect.</p> - -<p>Whatever it be, Mulla Firuz possessed the only -<a name="Page_xxiv" id="Page_xxiv"></a><span class="pageno">xxiv</span> -manuscript of the work then known in Bombay. It -was purchased at Isfahan by his father Kaus, about -the year 1778, from a bookseller, who sold it under -the title of a Gueber book. Brought to Bombay, it -attracted the particular attention of Mr. Duncan, then -governor of Bombay, to such a degree, that he began -an English translation of the work, which was interrupted -by his return to England. The final completion -of the version was owing to the great encouragement -which sir John Malcolm gave Mulla Firuz in -consequence of the high opinion which sir William -Jones had publicly expressed of the Dabistán, the -author of which drew his account of the ancient -Persian dynasties and religions chiefly from the -Desátir. There is an interval of one hundred and -thirty-three years<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_31" id="fnanchor_31"></a><a href="#footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></span> -between the composition of the -Dabistán and the fortuitous purchase of the manuscript -copy of the Desátir, by Kaus in Isfahan; as it -would be assuming to much to suppose that the latter -is the same from which Mohsan Fani drew his information, -we can but admit that the agreement of both, -in the most material points, affords a confirmation of -each respective text.</p> - -<p>The great Orientalist Silvestre de Sacy, on reviewing -the Desátir,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_32" id="fnanchor_32"></a><a href="#footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></span> -says: “We are in a manner -<a name="Page_xxv" id="Page_xxv"></a><span class="pageno">xxv</span> -frightened by the multitude and gravity of -the questions which we shall have to solve, or at -least to discuss; for every thing is here a problem: -What is the age of the book? Who is its author? -Is it the work of several persons; or the divers -parts of which it is composed, are they written by -one and the same author, although attributed to -different individuals, who succeeded each other -at long intervals? The language in which it was -written, was it, at any epoch, that of the inhabitants -of Persia, or of any of the countries comprised -in the empire of Iran? Or is it nothing -but a factitious language, invented to support an -imposture? At what epoch were made the -Persian translation accompanying the original -text, and the commentary joined to this translation? -Who is the author of the one and the -other? Are not this translation and this commentary -themselves pseudonymous and apocryphal -books; or may not the whole be the work of an -impostor of the latter centuries? All these questions -present themselves in a crowd to my mind; -and if some of them appear to be easily answered, -others offer more than common difficulties.”</p> - -<p>Well may a person, even with far greater pretensions -than mine can be, hesitate to attempt the -discussion of a subject which <em>frightened</em> the illustrious -Silvestre de Sacy; but as the Desátir is one of the -<a name="Page_xxvi" id="Page_xxvi"></a><span class="pageno">xxvi</span> -principal sources from which the author of the -Dabistán drew his account of the Persian religion -and its divers sects—a considerable part of his work—I -cannot dispense with presenting the subject in -the state in which the discussions hitherto published, -by very respectable critics, have left it. If I venture -to offer a few remarks of my own upon it, it is only -in the hope of provoking further elucidations by -philologers who shall examine the Mahabadian text -itself, and by arguments drawn from its fundamentals -decide the important question—whether we -shall have one language more or less to count -among the relics of antiquity?</p> - -<p>Instead of following the order in which the questions -are stated above, I will begin by that which -appears to me the most important, namely: “the -language in which the Desátir is written, is it -nothing but a factitious language invented to support -an imposture?”</p> - -<p>The forgery of a language, so bold an imposture, -renders any other fraud probable; through a false -medium no truth can be expected, nor even sought. -But, in order to guard against the preconception of -a forgery having taken place, a preconception the -existence of which may, with too good a foundation, -be apprehended, I shall first examine, as a general -thesis, whether the invention of a language, by one -individual or by a few individuals, is in itself probable -<a name="Page_xxvii" id="Page_xxvii"></a><span class="pageno">xxvii</span> -and credible. I shall only adduce those principles -which have received the sanction of great philologers, -among whom it may be sufficient to name -baron William Humboldt, and claim the reader’s -indulgence, if, in endeavoring to be clear, I should -not have sufficiently avoided trite observations.</p> - -<p>Tracing languages up to their first origin, it has -been found that they are derived from sounds expressive -of feelings; these are preserved in the roots, -from which, in the progressive development of the -faculty of speech, verbs, nouns, and the whole language, -are formed. In every speech, even in the -most simple one, the individual feeling has a connection -with the common nature of mankind; speech -is not a work of reflection: it is an instinctive creation. -The infallible presence of the word required -on every occasion is certainly not a mere act of -memory; no human memory would be capable of -furnishing it, if man did not possess in himself -instinctively the key, not only for the formation of -words, but also for a continued process of association: -upon this the whole system of human -language is founded. By entering into the very -substance of existing languages, it appears evident -that they are intellectual creations, which do -not at all pass from one individual to others, but -can only emerge from the coexisting self-activity -of all.</p> - -<a name="Page_xxviii" id="Page_xxviii"></a><span class="pageno">xxviii</span> -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“— — That one the names of things contrived,</div> - <div class="i0">And that from him their knowledge all derived,</div> - <div class="i0a">‘Tis fond to think.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_33" id="fnanchor_33"></a><a href="#footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></span></div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>As long as the language lives in the mouth of a -nation, the words are a progressive production and -reproduction of the faculty to form words. In this -manner only can we explain, without having recourse -to a supernatural cause, how millions of -men can agree to use the same words for every -object, the same locution for every feeling.</p> - -<p>Language in general is the sensible exterior vestment -of thought; it is the product of the intelligence, -and the expression of the character of mankind; -in particular it may be considered as the -exterior manifestation of the genius of nations: their -language is their genius, and their genius is their -language. We see of what use the investigation -of idioms may be in tracing the affinities of nations. -History and geography must be taken as -guides in the researches upon tongues; but these -researches would be futile, if languages were the -irregular product of hazard. No: profound feeling -and immediate clearness of vivid intuition act with -wonderful regularity, and follow an unerring analogy. -<a name="Page_xxix" id="Page_xxix"></a><span class="pageno">xxix</span> -The genesis of languages may be assimilated -to that of works of genius—I mean, of that creative -faculty which gives rules to an art. Thus is it the -language which dictates the grammar. Moreover, -the utmost perfection of which an idiom is susceptible -is a line like that of beauty, which, once attained, -can never be surpassed. This was the case -with some ancient tongues. Since that time, mankind -appear to have lost a faculty or a talent, inasmuch -as they are no more actuated by that urgency -of keen feeling which was the very principle of the -high perfection of those languages.</p> - -<p>Comparative philology, a new science, sprung up -within the last thirty years, but already grown to an -unforeseen perfection, has fixed the principles by -which the affinities of languages may be known, -even among the apparently irregular disparities -which various circumstances and revolutions of the -different nations have created. This would have -been impossible, if there did not exist a fundamental -philosophy of language, however concealed, and a -certain consistency, even in the seemingly most -irregular modification of dialect, for instance, in -that of pronunciation. But, even the permutation -of letters in different and the most rude dialects, has -its rules, and follows, within its own compass, a -spontaneous analogy, such as is indispensable for -the easy and common practice of a society more or -<a name="Page_xxx" id="Page_xxx"></a><span class="pageno">xxx</span> -less numerous. Thus sounds, grammatical forms, -and even graphical signs of language have been subjected -to analysis and comparison; the significant -radical letters have been distinguished from the -merely accidental letters, and a distinction has been -established between what is fundamental, and what -is merely historical and accidental.</p> - -<p>From these considerations I conclude:</p> - -<p class="unindent hanging">First—That the forgery of a language is in itself -highly improbable;</p> - -<p class="unindent hanging">Secondly—That, if it had been attempted, comparative -philology is perfectly capable of detecting -it.</p> - -<p>Taking a large historical view of this subject, we -cannot suppress the following reflection: The formation -of mighty and civilized states being admitted, -even by our strictest chronologers, to have taken -place at least twenty-five centuries before our era, it -can but appear extraordinary, even after taking in -account violent revolutions, that of so multitudinous -and great existences, only such scanty documents -should have come down to us. But, strange to say, -whenever a testimony has escaped the destruction -of time, instead of being greeted with a benevolent -although discerning curiosity, the unexpected stranger -is approached with mistrustful scrutiny, his voice -is stifled with severe rebukes, his credentials discarded -<a name="Page_xxxi" id="Page_xxxi"></a><span class="pageno">xxxi</span> -with scorn, and by a predetermined and -stubborn condemnation, resuscitating antiquity is -repelled into the tomb of oblivion.</p> - -<p>I am aware that all dialectical arguments which -have been or may be alleged against the probability -of forging a language, would be of no avail -against well-proved facts, that languages have been -forged, and that works, written in them, exist. -We may remember the example adduced by Richardson<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_34" id="fnanchor_34"></a><a href="#footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a></span> -of a language, as he said, “sufficiently -original, copious, and regular to impose upon -persons of very extensive learning,” forged by -Psalmanazar. This was the assumed name of a -an individual, whom the eminent Orientalist calls -a Jew, but who, born in 1679, in Languedoc or -in Provence, of Christian parents, received a Christian, -nay theological education, as good as his first -instructors, Franciscans, Jesuits, and Dominicans -could bestow. This extraordinary person threw -himself at a very early age into a career of adventures, -in the course of which, at the age of seventeen -years, he fell upon the wild project of passing for a -native of the island of Formosa, first as one who -had been converted to Christianity, then, as still a -pagan, he let himself be baptized by a Scotch minister, -by whom he was recommended to an English -bishop; the latter, in his pious illusion, promoted -<a name="Page_xxxii" id="Page_xxxii"></a><span class="pageno">xxxii</span> -at once the interests of the convertor, and the fraud -of the neophyte.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_35" id="fnanchor_35"></a><a href="#footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></span> -This adventurer who was bold -enough, while on the continent, to set about inventing -a new character and language, a grammar, -and a division of the year into twenty months, published -in London, although not twenty years old, -a translation of the catechism into his forged language -of Formosa, and a history of the island with -his own alphabetical writing, which read from right -to left—a gross fiction the temporary success of -which evinces the then prevailing ignorance in history, -geography, and philology. But pious zeal and -fanaticism had changed a scientific discussion into a -religious quarrel, and for too long a time rendered -vain the objections of a few truly learned and clear-sighted -<a name="Page_xxxiii" id="Page_xxxiii"></a><span class="pageno">xxxiii</span> -men; until the impostor, either incapable -of supporting longer his pretensions or urged by -his conscience, avowed the deception, and at last -became a truly learned good and estimable man.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_36" id="fnanchor_36"></a><a href="#footnote_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></span> -We see this example badly supports the cause of -forged languages.</p> - -<p>In 1805, M. Rousseau, since consul-general of -France at Aleppo, found in a private library at Baghdad -a dictionary of a language which is designated -by the name of <span class="title">Baláibalan</span>, interpreted “he who -vivifies,” and written in Arabic characters called -<dfn>Neshki</dfn>; it was explained in Arabic, Persian, and -Turkish. The unknown author of the dictionary -composed it for the intelligence of mysterious and -occult sciences, written in that language. The -highly learned Silvestre de Sacy had scarce been -informed of this discovery, when he sought and -found in the Royal Library, at Paris, the same dictionary, -and with his usual diligence and sagacity -published a short but lucid Notice of it.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_37" id="fnanchor_37"></a><a href="#footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></span> What he -said therein was sufficient for giving an idea of the -manner in which this language participates in the -grammatical forms of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. -<a name="Page_xxxiv" id="Page_xxxiv"></a><span class="pageno">xxxiv</span> -Silvestre de Sacy, as well as M. Rousseau, have -left it uncertain whether the language be dead or -living; by whom and at what period it was formed, -and what authors have made use of it. The former -adds, that some works written in Baláibalan are -likely to be found in the hands of the Súfis of Persia.</p> - -<p>This language deserves perhaps a further examination. -All that is positive in the just-adduced -statement of the two great Orientalists may be said -of any other language, which is not original but composed, -as for instance the English or the Dutch, of -more than one idiom. We can but admit that, at all -times an association of men for a particular purpose, -a school of art, science, and profession may have, -has, and even must have, a particular phraseology. -Any modification of ancient, or production of new, -ideas, will create a modified or a new language; any -powerful influence of particular circumstances will -produce a similar effect; this is a spontaneous reproduction, -and not the intentional forgery of a language.</p> - -<p>Such a forgery, even if it could remain undetected, -which it cannot in our times, would but furnish a -curious proof of human ingenuity, to which no -bounds can be assigned; but the true and sole object -of a language could never be attained by it; because, -never would a great number of independent men -be disposed, nor could they be forced, to adopt the -<a name="Page_xxxv" id="Page_xxxv"></a><span class="pageno">xxxv</span> -vocabulary, grammar, and locutions of a single man, -and appropriate them to themselves for the perpetual -expression of their inmost mind, and for the -exchange of their mutual feelings and ideas.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_38" id="fnanchor_38"></a><a href="#footnote_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></span> To -effect this, is a miracle ascribed to the Divinity, and -with justice; being the evident result of the Heaven-bestowed -faculty of speech, one of the perpetual -miracles of the world.</p> - -<p>Of this a prophet must avail himself who announces -to the world the important intelligence of -a heavenly revelation. The great purpose of his -sacred mission implies the widest possible proclamation -of his doctrine in a language generally intelligible, -which a forged language never can be. If, -as was surmised,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_39" id="fnanchor_39"></a><a href="#footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></span> -the Desátir be set up as a rival -to the Koran, it must have been written in a national -language for a nation; the Persians owned -as theirs the <span class="title">Mahabadian</span> religion, the identical one -which history, although not under the same name, -attributes to them in remote ages, as will result -from an examination of the doctrine itself.</p> - -<p>Considering the knowledge required, and the -difficulties to be overcome in forging a language in -<a name="Page_xxxvi" id="Page_xxxvi"></a><span class="pageno">xxxvi</span> -such a manner as to impose, even for a time, upon -the credulity of others, we shall conclude that nothing -less than direct proof is requisite for establishing -such a forgery as a real fact. Now, what arguments -have been set forth for declaring the language of the -Desátir to be nothing else than “an artificial idiom -invented to support an imposture?”</p> - -<p>Silvestre de Sacy says:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_40" id="fnanchor_40"></a><a href="#footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></span> -“It is difficult indeed, -not to perceive that the multiplied relations which -exist between the <span class="title">Asmáni</span>, ‘heavenly,’ and Persian -languages are the result of a systematic -operation, and not <em>the effect of hazard</em>, nor <em>that of -time, which proceeds with less regularity in the alterations -to which language is subjected</em>.”</p> - -<p>I must apologise for here interrupting this celebrated -author, for the purpose of referring to what -nobody better than himself has established as a peremptory -condition of existence for any language, and -what he certainly never meant to deny, but may perhaps -here be supposed to forget—namely, that a language -is not “the effect of hazard,” and although -“not the result of systematic combination,” yet, as -an instinctive creation, shows surprising regularity, -and that an evident rule predominates in the alterations -which time produces in languages.</p> - -<p>Silvestre de Sacy proceeds: “The grammar of -the Mahabadian language is evidently, for the -<a name="Page_xxxvii" id="Page_xxxvii"></a><span class="pageno">xxxvii</span> -whole etymological part, and even (which is singularly -striking) in what concerns the anomalous -verbs, traced from (<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">calquée sur</i>) the Persian grammar, -and as to the radical words, if there be -many of them the origin of which is unknown, -there is also a great number of them in which -the Persian root, more or less altered, may be -recognised without any effort.”</p> - -<p>Erskine examined, without the least communication -with the French critic, the Mahabadian language, -and says:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_41" id="fnanchor_41"></a><a href="#footnote_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></span> -“In its grammar it approaches -very nearly to the modern Persian, as well in the -inflection of the nouns and verbs, as in its syntax.” -Norris<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_42" id="fnanchor_42"></a><a href="#footnote_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></span> -takes the very same view of it.</p> - -<p>These highly respectable critics published their -judgment upon the Mahabadian language before the -comparison of several languages with the Sanscrit -and between each other had been made by able -philologers, creators of the new science of comparative -philology. According to the latter, the proofs of -the real affinity of language, that is, the proofs that -two languages belong to the same family, are to be -principally and can be properly deduced, from their -<a name="Page_xxxviii" id="Page_xxxviii"></a><span class="pageno">xxxviii</span> -grammatical system. Thus, for instance, the forms -of the Greek and Latin languages are in several -parts nearly identical with the Sanscrit, the first bearing -a greater resemblance in one respect, the latter -in another; the Greek verbs in <dfn>mi</dfn>, the Latin declension -of some nouns appear, to use the expression -of the illustrious author, “traced from each other -(<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">calqués l’un sur l’autre</i>).” These two languages -seem to have divided between them the whole system -of the ancient grammar, which is most perfectly -preserved in the Sanscrit. This language -itself is probably, with the two mentioned, derived -from a more ancient language; we meet in them -three sisters recognised by their striking likeness. -This, although more or less weakened and even -obliterated in some features, remains upon the whole -still perceptible in a long series of their relations: -I mean in all those languages which are distinguished -by the name of <dfn>Indo-germanic</dfn>, to which the Persian -belongs.</p> - -<p>But, in deciding upon the affinity of languages, -not only the grammatical forms are to be examined, -but also the system of sounds is to be studied, and -the words must be considered in their roots and derivations. -The three critics mentioned agree that the -language of the Desátir is very similar to the Persian -or Deri, not only in grammar, but also in etymology; -a great number of the verbal and nominal -<a name="Page_xxxix" id="Page_xxxix"></a><span class="pageno">xxxix</span> -roots are the same in both. This similarity would, -according to comparative philology, lead to the conclusion -that either the one is derived from the other, -or that both proceed from a common parent; but -nothing hitherto here alleged can justify the supposition -of invention, forgery, or fabrication of the so-called -Mahabadian language.</p> - -<p>We continue to quote the strictures of Silvestre de -Sacy: “There is however a yet stronger proof of -the systematic operation which produced the -factitious idiom. This proof I derive from the -perfect and constant identity which prevails between -the Persian phraseology and that of the -Mahabadian idiom. The one and the other are, -whenever the translation does not degenerate into -paraphrase or commentary, which frequently -happens, traced from each other (<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">calqués l’un sur -l’autre</i>) in such a manner that each phrase, in both, -has always the same number of words, and these -words are always arranged in the same order. -For producing such a result, we must admit two -idioms, the grammar of which should be perfectly -alike, as weil with respect to the etymological -part as to the syntax, and their respective dictionaries -offering precisely the same number of -words, whether nouns, verbs, or particles: which -would suppose two nations, having precisely the -same number of ideas, whether absolute or relative, -<a name="Page_xl" id="Page_xl"></a><span class="pageno">xl</span> -and conceiving but the same kind and the -same number of relations.”</p> - -<p>If what we have already stated be not unfounded, -the last quoted paragraph, which the author calls -“a yet stronger proof of the systematic operations -which produced the factitious idiom” must be -acknowledged not to have the weight which he -would attribute to it. If the Mahabadian and Persian -be languages related to each other, “a perfect -and constant identity of phraseology between -them both,” if even so great as it is said to be, is -not only possible, but may be fairly expected in the -avowed translation of the Desátir into Persian. Such -identity is most religiously aimed at in versions of a -sacred text. Need I adduce modern examples of -translations which, in point of phraseological conformity -with their original, may vie with the Persian -version of the Mahabadian text? The supposition -that two nations have the same number of ideas, -absolute or relative, is far from being absurd: it is -really the fact with all nations who are upon the -same level of civilisation; but the present question -is of the writings of the same nation, which, possessing -at all times a sort of government and religion -fundamentally the same, might easily count an -obsolete language of its own among the monuments -of its antiquity.</p> - -<p>On that account, we cannot see what the former -<a name="Page_xli" id="Page_xli"></a><span class="pageno">xli</span> -arguments of the critic gain in strength by the addition: -“that the perfect identity of conception falls -in a very great part upon abstract and metaphysical -ideas, in which such a coincidence is infinitely -more difficult than when the question is only -of objects and relations perceptible to the senses.”—A -great similarity is remarked in all forms of -thinking. Little chance of being contradicted can -be incurred in saying, that the fundamental ideas -of metaphysics are common to all mankind, and -inherent in human reason. The encyclopedian -contents of the Dabistán, concerning the opinions -of so many nations, would furnish a new proof of -it, were this generally acknowledged fact in need -of any further support.</p> - -<p>Silvestre de Sacy acknowledges that the Asmáni -language contains a great number of radical words, -the origin of which is not known. Erskine says:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_43" id="fnanchor_43"></a><a href="#footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></span> -“It is certainly singular that the language in which -the Desátir is written, like that in which the Zend-Avesta -is composed, is no where else to be met -with. It is not derived from the Zend, the Pehlevi, -the Sanscrit, Arabic, Turkish, Persian, or -any other known language.” * * * * * * -The basis of the language, and the great majority -of words in it, belong to no known tongue. It -is a mixture of Persian and Indian words. A -<a name="Page_xlii" id="Page_xlii"></a><span class="pageno">xlii</span> -few Arabic words occur.” Norris<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_44" id="fnanchor_44"></a><a href="#footnote_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a></span> also found -that a great part of the language appears to have -little resemblance to any other that was ever spoken. -A judgment, so expressed, might induce an impartial -mind to ascribe originality to at least a part of -the Asmáni language; which would naturally render -the other part less liable to suspicion, inasmuch as -it would have been not less difficult to execute, but -less easy to conceal, a partial than a total forgery. -Nevertheless it so happens that the dissimilarity -from any other, as well as the similarity to one particular -idiom, are both equally turned against the -genuineness of the language in question: where dissimilarity -exists, there is absolute forgery—where -similarity, an awkward disguise!</p> - -<p>Erskine continues: “The Persian system it is -unnecessary to particularise; but it is worthy of -attention that, among the words of Indian origin, -not only are many Sanscrit, which might happen -in a work of a remote age, but several belong to -the colloquial language of Hindustán: this is suspicious, -and seems to mark a much more recent -origin. Many words indeed occur in the Desátir -that are common to the Sanscrit and to the vulgar -Indian languages (the author quotes thirty-four of -them); many others might be pointed out. But -the most remarkable class of words is that which -<a name="Page_xliii" id="Page_xliii"></a><span class="pageno">xliii</span> -belongs to the pure Hindi; such I imagine are the -word <dfn>shet</dfn>, ‘respectable,’ prefixed to the names -of prophets and others (twenty-four are adduced). -Whatever may be thought of the words of Persian -descent, it is not probable that those from the -Hindustaní are of a very remote age; they may -perhaps be regarded as considerably posterior to -the settlement of the Muselmans in India.”</p> - -<p>Strongly supported by the opinion of respectable -philologers, I do not hesitate to draw a quite contrary -conclusion from the facts stated by Erskine. -It should be remembered that, in the popular or -vulgar dialects are often found remains of ancient -tongues, namely, roots of words, locutions, nay -rules of grammar which have become obsolete, or -disappeared in the cultivated idioms derived from -the same original language. It was not without -reason that the illustrious William Humboldt recommended -to the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain -and Ireland,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_45" id="fnanchor_45"></a><a href="#footnote_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></span> -to examine, on behalf of general -Oriental philology, the different provincial dialects -of India. Even the gibberish of gypsies is not to -be neglected for that purpose.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_46" id="fnanchor_46"></a><a href="#footnote_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a></span></p> - -<p>Thus, if we are not greatly mistaken, the very -<a name="Page_xliv" id="Page_xliv"></a><span class="pageno">xliv</span> -arguments alleged to show that the Mahabadian -language is an invention or forgery, lead rather to -a contrary conclusion. Duly sensible of the great -weight of authority which opposes the result of -my inquiry, I sought an explanation of the severe -judgment passed upon the Desátir, and venture to -surmise that it was occasioned by the certainly extravagant -claim to a heavenly origin and incredible antiquity -which has been attached to this work. Such -pretensions, taken in too serious a light, can but -hurt a fixed, if not religious, belief. Every nation -acknowledges but one heavenly book, and rejects -every other. Hence arises a very natural, and even -respectable pre-conception against all that appears -without the limits traced by religion, or mere early -habit and adopted system. Thus a severe censure -is provoked. To annihilate at once the impertinent -pretension to a divine origin, all that ingenuity can -suggest is brought forward to prove the book to be -a fraudulent forgery; to strip it of the awful dignity -of antiquity, it must by any means be represented -as the work of yesterday. But error is not fraud, -and may be as ancient as mankind itself; because -credulous, a man is not the forger of a document. If -the Mahabadian language is not that primitive idiom -from which the Sanscrit, the Zend, and other languages -are derived, it does not follow that it is “a -mere jargon, fabricated with no great address to -<a name="Page_xlv" id="Page_xlv"></a><span class="pageno">xlv</span> -support a religious or philosophical imposture;”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_47" id="fnanchor_47"></a><a href="#footnote_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a></span> -if it was not spoken in Iran long before the establishment -of the Péshdadian monarchy, it does -not follow “that it has at no time belonged to any -tribe or nation on the face of the earth.”</p> - -<p>However I may appear inclined in favor of the -Desátir, I shall avoid incurring the blame of unfair -concealment by adding to the names of the great -critics above quoted, adverse to this work, the -great one of William von Schlegel. I must avow -it; the celebrated author declares the Desátir,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_48" id="fnanchor_48"></a><a href="#footnote_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a></span> intimately -connected with the Dabistán, to be “a forgery -still more refined (than that of the Brahman who -deceived Wilford),<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_49" id="fnanchor_49"></a><a href="#footnote_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></span> -and written in a pretended -ancient language, but fabricated at pleasure.” As -he, however, presents no arguments of his own, but -only appeals in a note to the articles written by Silvestre -de Sacy and Erskine, there is no occasion here -for a further observation concerning this question. -As to von Schlegel’s opinion upon the Dabistán, I -reserve some remarks upon it for another place.</p> - -<p>General arguments, opposed to general objections, -may produce persuasion, but are not sufficient -for establishing the positive truth concerning a subject -<a name="Page_xlvi" id="Page_xlvi"></a><span class="pageno">xlvi</span> -in question. It is necessary to dive into the -Mahabadian language itself for adequate proofs of -its genuineness. I might have justly hesitated to -undertake this task, but found it already most ably -achieved by baron von Hammer,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_50" id="fnanchor_50"></a><a href="#footnote_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a></span> -in whom we do -not know which we ought to admire most, his vast -store of Oriental erudition, or the indefatigable activity, -with which he diffuses, in an unceasing series -of useful works, the various information derived not -only from the study of the dead letter in books, but -also from converse with the living spirit of the actual -Eastern world. This sagacious reviewer of the -Desátir, examining its language, finds proofs of its -authenticity in the nature of its structure and the -syllables of its formation, which, when compared to -the modern pure Persian or Derí, have the same relation -to it as the Gothic to the English; the old Persian -and the old Germanic idioms exhibit in the -progress of improvement such a wonderful concordance -and analogy as can by no means be the result -of an ingenious combination, nor that of a lucky -accidental coincidence. Thus, the language of the -Desátir has syllables of declension affixed to pronouns, -which coincide with those of the Gothic -and Low German, but are not recognisable in -the modern form of the Persian pronouns. This is -<a name="Page_xlvii" id="Page_xlvii"></a><span class="pageno">xlvii</span> -also the case with some forms of numerical and -other words. The Mahabadian language contains -also a good number of Germanic radicals which -cannot be attributed to the well-known affinity of -the German and the modern Persian, because they -are no more to be found in the latter, but solely in -the Desátir. This has besides many English, Greek, -and Latin words, a series of which baron von Hammer -exhibits, and—which ought to be duly noticed—a -considerable number of Mahabadian words, -belonging also to the languages enumerated, are -sought in vain in any Persian dictionary of our -days! Surely, an accidental coincidence of an invented -factitious language, with Greek, Latin, and -Germanic forms would be by far a greater and more -inexplicable miracle, than the great regularity of -this ancient sacred idiom of Persia, and its conformity -with the modern Deri. It is nevertheless -from the latter that the forgery is chiefly inferred.</p> - -<p>Moreover, the acute philologer, analysing the -Mahabadian language by itself, points out its essential -elements and component parts, that is, syllables -of derivation, formation, and inflexion. Thus -he adduces as syllables of derivation certain vowels, -or consonants preceded by certain vowels; he shows -certain recurring terminations to be syllables of -formation for substantives, adjectives, and verbs; -he sets forth particular forms of verbs, and remarkable -<a name="Page_xlviii" id="Page_xlviii"></a><span class="pageno">xlviii</span> -expressions. All this he supports by numerous -examples taken from the text of the Desátir. Such -a process enabled him to rectify in some places the -Persian translation of the Mahabadian text.</p> - -<p>I can but repeat that my only object here is to -present the question in the same state that I found -it; and am far from contesting, nay, readily admit, -the possibility of arguments which may lead to a -contrary conclusion. Until such are produced, although -not presuming to decide, I may be permitted -to believe that the language of the Desátir is no -forgery; I may range myself on the side of the -celebrated Orientalist mentioned, who, ten years -after the date of his review of the Desátir (ten years -which, with him, are a luminous path of ever-increasing -knowledge), had not changed his opinion -upon the language of the Desátir, and assigns to it<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_51" id="fnanchor_51"></a><a href="#footnote_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a></span> -a place among the Asiatic dialects; according to him, -as it is more nearly related to the new Persian than -to the Zand and the Pehlevi, it may be considered -as a new intermediate ring in the hermetic chain -which connects the Germanic idioms with the old -Asiatic languages; it is perhaps the most ancient -dialect of the Deri,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_52" id="fnanchor_52"></a><a href="#footnote_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></span> -spoken, if not in Fars, yet in -<a name="Page_xlix" id="Page_xlix"></a><span class="pageno">xlix</span> -the north-eastern countries of the Persian empire, to -wit, in Sogd and Bamian. When it ceased to be -spoken, like several other languages of by-gone ages, -the Mahabádian was preserved perhaps in a single -book, or fragment of a book, similar in its solitude -to the Hebrew Bible, or the Persian Zend-Avesta.</p> - -<p class="p2">At what epoch was the Desátir written?</p> - -<p>The epoch assigned to it, according to different -views, is the sixth<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_53" id="fnanchor_53"></a><a href="#footnote_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></span> -or the seventh<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_54" id="fnanchor_54"></a><a href="#footnote_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></span> century of our -era, even the later time of the Seljucides, who reigned -from A. D. 1037 to 1193. The latter epoch is adopted -as the earliest assignable, by Silvestre de Sacy, -who alleges two reasons for his opinion: the one is -his belief that the new Persian language, in which -the Desátir was translated and commented by the -fabricator of the original or Mahabadian text did -not exist earlier; the second reason refers to some -parts of the contents of the Desátir. I shall touch -upon both these questions.</p> - -<p>It is useless to discuss what can never be ascertained, -who the author of the Desátir was. But -this work would be unintelligible without the Persian -translation and commentary. Silvestre de Sacy -<a name="Page_l" id="Page_l"></a><span class="pageno">l</span> -asks: “Are not this translation and this commentary, -themselves pseudonymous and apocryphal -books, and is not the whole, perhaps, -the work of an impostor of the last century?” In -answering this, I shall be guided by the baron -von Hammer, who wrote his review of the Desátir -before he had seen that of the <cite>Journal des Savans</cite>, -but, after having perused the latter, declared that -he had nothing to change in his opinion. Although -the commentator, to whom the honor of being the -inventor of the Mahabadian language is ascribed, -follows in the main the ancient text word for word, -and substitutes commonly a new for the obsolete -form of the term, yet frequent instances occur (some -of which baron von Hammer adduces) which prove -that the interpreter did not clearly understand the -old text, but in place of the true meaning gave his -own arbitrary interpretation. The proper names -even are not always the same. Besides—and this -is most important—the doctrines contained in the -Desátir and in the Commentary differ from each -other. In the books of the first Mahabadian kings -we find the fundamental ideas of the Oriental philosophy, -such as it was before its migration from Asia -to Europe; but in the commentary we perceive the -development of the Aristotelian scholastic, such as -it formed itself among the Asiatics, when they had, -by means of translations, become acquainted with the -<a name="Page_li" id="Page_li"></a><span class="pageno">li</span> -Stagirite. We shall revert to this subject hereafter. -Whatever it be—the discrepancies between the original -text and the interpretation, as they would -certainly have been avoided by the author of both, -prove that they are the works of two different persons, -probably with the interval of a few centuries -between them.</p> - -<p>The Persian translator and commentator is said -to be the fifth Sassan, who lived in the time of the -Persian king Khusro-Parviz, a contemporary of the -Roman emperor Heraclius, and died only nine years -before the destruction of the ancient Persian monarchy, -or in the year 643 of our era. It must be -presumed that the five Sassans, the first of whom -was a contemporary of Alexander, 323 years before -Christ, were not held to be immediate successors to -each other, but only in the same line of descent; -otherwise an interval of 946 years, from Alexander -to Parviz, comprehending the reign of thirty-one -Arsacides and twenty-two Sassanian princes, would -be given to no more than five individuals, which -absurdity ought not to be attributed to the commentary -of the Desátir. In general, so common is it -with Asiatics to deal with names of celebrity as if -they were generic names, that it is very frequently -impossible to be positive about the true author of a -work. There appears in the present case nothing -to prevent us from placing the translator and commentator -<a name="Page_lii" id="Page_lii"></a><span class="pageno">lii</span> -of the Desátir (whether a Sassan or not) -in the seventh century of our era.</p> - -<p>The translation and commentary of the Desátir -are written in what the best judges consider as -very pure Persian, though ancient, without any -mixture whatever of words of Arabic or Chaldean -origin, and conformable to the grammatical system -of modern Persian. But when was the latter -formed?—As the opinion upon this epoch involves -that upon the age of the composition itself, I shall -be permitted to take a rather extensive historical -view of this part of the question.</p> - -<p>Setting aside the Mahabadian kings mentioned -in the Desátir and Dabistán, we know that Gilshah, -Hoshang, Jamshid (true Persian names) are -proclaimed by all Orientalists as founders of the -Persian empire and builders of renowned cities in -very remote times. This empire comprised in its -vast extent different nations, speaking three principal -languages, the Zand, Pehlevi, and Parsi. Among -these nations were the <span class="title">Persæ</span>, “Persians,” properly -and distinctively so called. We are informed by -Herodotus<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_55" id="fnanchor_55"></a><a href="#footnote_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a></span> -that there were different races of Persæ, -of whom he enumerates eleven. Those who inhabited -originally <span class="title">Fars</span>, <span class="title">Farsistan</span>, -<span class="title">Persis</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_56" id="fnanchor_56"></a><a href="#footnote_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a></span> a country -<a name="Page_liii" id="Page_liii"></a><span class="pageno">liii</span> -double the extent of England, and gave their name -to the whole empire, certainly spoke their own -idiom, the <span class="title">Parsi</span> or <span class="title">Farsi</span>. A national language may -vary in its forms, but never can be destroyed as -long as any part of the nation exits; can we doubt -that the Persians who, once the masters of Asia, -although afterwards shorn of their power, never -ceased to be independent and formidable, preserved -their language to our days?</p> - -<p>We may consider as remains of the oldest Persian -language, the proper and other names of persons, -places and things mentioned by the most ancient -historians; now, a number of such words, which -occur in the Hebrew Bible,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_57" id="fnanchor_57"></a><a href="#footnote_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a></span> -in Herodotus, and other -Greek authors, are much better explained from -modern Persian than from Zand and Pehlevi. In -the Armenian language exist words common to the -Persian, none common to the Pehlevi;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_58" id="fnanchor_58"></a><a href="#footnote_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a></span> therefore, -in very remote times Persian and not Pehlevi was -the dominant idiom of the Iranian nations with -whom the Armenians were in relation. More positive -information is reserved for posterity, when -the cuneiform inscriptions upon the monumental -<a name="Page_liv" id="Page_liv"></a><span class="pageno">liv</span> -rocks and ruins, to be found in all directions within -the greatest part of Asia, shall be deciphered by -future philologers, not perhaps possessing greater -talent, but better means of information from all-revealing -time than those of our days, who have -already successfully begun the great work—Grotefend, -Rask, St. Martin, Burnouf, Lassen, etc.</p> - -<p>Let us now take a hasty review of a few principal -epochs of the Persian empire, with respect to language, -beginning only from that nearest the time, in -which Persia was seen and described by Herodotus, -Ctesias, and Xenophon, not without reference to the -then existing national historical records. Khosru -(Cyrus) the Persian King, placed by the Occidentals in -the seventh century before our era,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_59" id="fnanchor_59"></a><a href="#footnote_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a></span> having wrested -the sceptre from the hands of the Medes, who spoke -Pehlevi, naturally produced the ascendancy of his -national idiom. This did not sink under his immediate -successors, Lohrasp and Gushtasp. Although -under the reign of the latter, who received Zardusht -at his court in the sixth century B. C.,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_60" id="fnanchor_60"></a><a href="#footnote_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a></span> the Zand -might have had great currency, yet it certainly -declined after Gushtasp, as his grandson Bahman, -<a name="Page_lv" id="Page_lv"></a><span class="pageno">lv</span> -the son of Isfendiar, favored the cultivation of the -Parsi.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_61" id="fnanchor_61"></a><a href="#footnote_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a></span> -This language was perfected in Baktria -(the original name of which country is <span class="title">Bákhter</span>, -“East,” an old Persian word) and in the neighboring -Transoxiana; there the towns <span class="place">Bamian</span>, the -Thebes of the East, and <span class="place">Balkh</span>, built by Lohrasp and -sanctified by Gushtasp’s famous Pyræum, besides -<span class="place">Merv</span> and <span class="place">Bokhára</span>, were great seats of Persian arts -and sciences. The Parsi, thus refined, was dominant -in all the royal residences, which changed according -to seasons and circumstances; it was spoken at the -court of the Second <span class="person">Dara</span> (Darius Codomanus), and -sounds in his own name and that of his daughters -<span class="person">Sitára</span> (Statira), “star,” and <span class="person">Roshana</span> (Roxana), “splendor,” -whom the unfortunate king resigned with -his empire to Alexander.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_62" id="fnanchor_62"></a><a href="#footnote_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a></span> -This conqueror, intoxicated -with power, endeavored to exterminate the -Mobeds, the guardians of the national religion and -science; he slew many, but dispersed only the -majority. From the death of Alexander (323 B. C.) -to the reign of Ardeshir Babegan (Artaxerxes), the -founder of the Sassanian dynasty (200 A. D.), a -<a name="Page_lvi" id="Page_lvi"></a><span class="pageno">lvi</span> -period of more than five centuries is almost a blank -in the Persian history; but when the last-mentioned -king, the regenerator of the ancient Iranian monarchy, -wishing to restore its laws and literature, -convoked the Mobeds, he found forty thousand of -them before the gate of the fire-temple of Barpa.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_63" id="fnanchor_63"></a><a href="#footnote_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a></span> -Ammianus Marcellinus, in the fourth century of our -era attests, that the title of king was in <span class="title">Deri</span>, “court-language,” -yet the Pehlevi was spoken concurrently -with it during the reigns of the first twelve -Sassanian princes, until it was proscribed by a formal -edict of the thirteenth of them, <span class="title">Bahram gor</span>, in -our fifth century. Nushirvan and Parviz, in the -sixth century, were both celebrated for the protection -which they granted to arts and sciences. -We have on record a school of physic, poetry, rhetoric, -dialectics, and abstract sciences, flourishing -at Gandi sapor, a town in Khorasan: the Persian -must have then been highly cultivated. We are -now in the times of Muhammed; were they not -<em>Persian</em>, those Tales, the charm of which, whether -in the original or in the translation, was such, that -the Arabian legislator, to counteract it, summoned -up the power of his high-sounding heaven-inspired -eloquence, and wrote a part of the Koran against -them? If he himself had not named the Deri as -the purest dialect of the Persian, what other language -<a name="Page_lvii" id="Page_lvii"></a><span class="pageno">lvii</span> -could we believe he admired for its extreme -softness so much as to say, that the Almighty used -it when he wished to address the angels in a tone of -mildness and beneficence, whilst he reserved the -Arabic for command?<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_64" id="fnanchor_64"></a><a href="#footnote_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a></span> Such a fact, or such a tradition, -presupposes a refined, and therefore long-spoken -language. After Muhammed’s death, his -fanatic successors attempted to bury under the ruins -of the Persian empire even the memory of its ancient -religion and language—but they did not succeed: -the sacred fire was saved and preserved beyond -the Oxus; it was rekindled in Baktria, that ancient -hearth of Persian splendor; there poetry and eloquence -revived, but could not raise their voices -until princes of Persian origin became lieutenants -of the Mohammedan khalifs. It was under Nasr, -son of Ahmed the Samanian, in the beginning of our -tenth century, that <span class="sc">Rudigi</span> rose, the first celebrated -new Persian poet, but he found, he did not create -the language, more than Homer created Greek, -Dante Italian, or Spenser English. A great author, -in whom the genius of his nation is concentrated, -does no more than aptly collect into a whole the -idiom which exists every where in parts, and elicit -its pre-existing resources. Thus under his pen the -language can appear to spring up with all its beauties—as -<a name="Page_lviii" id="Page_lviii"></a><span class="pageno">lviii</span> -Minerva, equipped in armour, sprung forth -from the head of Jupiter.</p> - -<p>Such being the historical indications relative to -the Persian language, we cannot participate in the -doubts of Silvestre de Sacy, nor find Erskine<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_65" id="fnanchor_65"></a><a href="#footnote_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></span> just in -disdaining even to make a comment upon the credibility -of the hypothesis “that the Persian language -was completely formed in the age of the latter -Sassanians.” It would be rather a matter of -wonder that the Parsi, related to the most ancient -and most cultivated language in the world, should -not have been much sooner fitted for the harmonious -lays of Ferdusi!—a matter of wonder indeed, that -the Persians, who taught the Arabs so much of -their religion—heaven and hell, should have remained -behind them in the refinement of their idiom!—that -they, who could scoff at the <span class="title">Tazis</span> as eaters -of lizards, should not have possessed, in the seventh -century, a language to contend with that people, -who themselves possessed celebrated poets long -before Muhammed!<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_66" id="fnanchor_66"></a><a href="#footnote_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a></span></p> - -<p><a name="Page_lix" id="Page_lix"></a><span class="pageno">lix</span> -It is for ever regrettable that overpowering Muhammedism -should have spoiled the original admirable -simplicity of one of the softest languages in the -world, by the intrusion of the sonorous but harsher -words of Arabic, and imposed upon us the heavy -tax of learning two languages for understanding -one; but, as the translation of the Desátir is free -from words of an Arabic or Chaldean origin, should -we not fairly conclude, that it was executed before -the Muhammedan conquest of Persia? So did Norris, -and so Erskine—I can but think—would have -done, if his judgment and penetration, usually so -right and acute, had not been prepossessed by the -idea of an imposture, which he had assumed as -proved or self-evident, whilst this was the very point -of contestation. Thus, “the very freedom from -words of foreign growth, which the learned natives -consider as a mark of authenticity, appeared to -him the proof of an artificial and fabricated style.”</p> - -<p>If even there are some Arabic words to be found -in the text and the translation of the Desátir, this -affords no fair inference that these works had not -been composed before the Arabs conquered Persia, -because those words might have come from Pehlevi, -in which there is a mixture of Arabic, and there are -also Persian words in the Koran; most naturally, -<a name="Page_lx" id="Page_lx"></a><span class="pageno">lx</span> -as there subsisted from times immemorial relations -between Persia and Arabia.</p> - -<p>What I have said will, if I am not mistaken, sufficiently -justify the conclusion, that the Persian idiom -could in the seventh century have attained the regularity -and form of the present Persian, such at -least, as it appears in the Commentary of the Desátir, -not without a very perceptible tincture of obsoleteness.</p> - -<p>I need scarce remark that the title <span class="title">asmáni</span>, “heavenly,” -belongs exclusively to the superstitious admiration -with which the Desátir is viewed. Nor are -its fifteen books to be taken for sacred works of so -many prophets who succeeded each other after such -long intervals of time; yet nothing prevents us, as I -hope to show, from believing some parts of them -very ancient. Neither are these of the same antiquity. -Thus, prophecies which are certainly interpolations -made after the events, occur in them, not -otherwise than in the Indian Puránas, the fundamental -parts of which are nevertheless now admitted -to be as ancient as the Vedas themselves. -We find in the two last books of the Desátir are -mentioned: the contest between the Abbasides and -the descendants of Ali; the adoption of Muhammedism -by almost the totality of Iran; inimical -sects, and the power of the Turcomans superseding -that of the Arabs; the latter parts must certainly -<a name="Page_lxi" id="Page_lxi"></a><span class="pageno">lxi</span> -have been composed after the taking of Bagdád -by Hulogu in 1258 of our era. The fifteenth -book of the Desátir is probably apocryphal.</p> - -<p>As to the doctrine of the Desátir, Erskine says:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_67" id="fnanchor_67"></a><a href="#footnote_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a></span> -“I consider that the whole of the peculiar doctrines, -ascribed to Mahabad and Hoshang, is borrowed -from the mystical doctrines of the Persian -Súfis, and from the ascetic tenets and practices of -the Yogis and Sanyasis, of India who drew many -of their opinions from the Vedanta-school.” But -this involves the great historical question, concerning -the origin of Súfism and the whole Indian philosophy, -which is by some (not without foundation) -believed to have been spread throughout a great part -of Asia. It is quite gratuitous, I may say, to regard -them “as having had no existence before the time -of Azar Kaivan<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_68" id="fnanchor_68"></a><a href="#footnote_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a></span> and his disciples in the reigns of -Akbar and Jehanguir, and as having been devised -and reduced into form between 200 and 300 -years ago in the school of Sipasi-philosophers.” -Nor can I admit as better founded the following insinuations -of the same ingenious critic: “Nor shall -I inquire whether many of the acute metaphysical -remarks that abound in the commentary and the -general style of argument which it employs have -not rather proceeded from the schoolmen of the -<a name="Page_lxii" id="Page_lxii"></a><span class="pageno">lxii</span> -West, than directly from the Oriental or Aristotelian -philosophy.” To this may be answered: -It is highly problematic, whether the translator of -the Desátir ever knew any schoolman of the West, -but it is certain that he, as an Asiatic and a Persian, -knew the Oriental philosophy, the fundamentals of -which were preserved in the first books of the Desátir, -as we have already said; but the commentator -could but participate in the modification, which the -ancient doctrine had undergone in his age, after -its return from the West to the East, in translations -of Greek philosophical works into Asiatic languages. -Thus, in the Desátir and its commentary—I borrow -the words of baron von Hammer:—“We see -already germinating the double seed of reason and -light, from which sprung up the double tree of -rational and ideal philosophy,”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_69" id="fnanchor_69"></a><a href="#footnote_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a></span> which spread its -ramifications over the whole world, and lives and -flourishes even in our times.</p> - -<p>The commentator was no ordinary man: living, -as we may believe, in the first half of the seventh -century, he possessed the sciences of his learned -age; flourishing under the reign of king Khosru -Parviz, who professed the ancient Persian religion -in his letter to a Roman emperor of the East,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_70" id="fnanchor_70"></a><a href="#footnote_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a></span> and -<a name="Page_lxiii" id="Page_lxiii"></a><span class="pageno">lxiii</span> -tore to pieces Muhammed’s written invitation to -adopt Islam<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_71" id="fnanchor_71"></a><a href="#footnote_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a></span>; in this yet unshaken state of national -independence, the fifth Sassan preserved pure his -creed and style from the influence of the Arabian -prophet. The translator and commentator of the -Desátir says of himself:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_72" id="fnanchor_72"></a><a href="#footnote_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a></span> “I too have written a -celebrated book under the name of <span class="title">Do giti</span>, ‘the -two worlds’, full of admirable wisdom, which -I have derived from the most exalted intelligence, -and in the eminent book of the famous prophet, -the King of Kings, Jemshid, there is a great deal, -concerning the unity which only distinguished -Asceties (<span class="title">Hertasp</span>) can comprehend, and on the -subject of this transcendant knowledge I have -also composed a great volume <cite>Pertú están</cite>, ‘the -mansion of light,’ which I have adorned by -<a name="Page_lxiv" id="Page_lxiv"></a><span class="pageno">lxiv</span> -evidence deduced from reason, and by texts from -the <cite>Desátir</cite> and <cite>Avesta</cite>, so that <em>the soul of every man</em> -may derive pleasure from it. And it is one of the -books of the secrets of the great God.”</p> - -<p>This is a most important declaration. The commentator -considered the Desátir and the Avesta as -sources of delight <span class="muchsmaller">TO ALL MEN</span>. And he was right. -The doctrine of the former work now under consideration -is found every where, not denied either -by the ancients or moderns; it is the property of -mankind. As such, “<cite>it does not belong to any particular -tribe or nation</cite>:” in which point, although in quite -another sense, we agree with Erskine, but we may -dissent from the learned author, when he taxes it to -be “a religious or philosophical imposture, which -needed the support of a fabricated language.” After -careful examination, I must conscientiously declare, -I discover no imposture aimed at by any artifice; -there was no secret to be concealed; nothing to be -disguised; the Mahabadian religion is as open as its -temple, the vault of heaven, and as clear as the -lights, flaming in their ethereal attitudes; its book -is a sort of catechism of Asiatic religion; its prayer -a litany of Oriental devotion, in which any man may -join his voice.</p> - -<p>Thus have I endeavored, to the best of my -power, to exhibit faithfully what has hitherto been -alleged for and against the authenticity of the book, -<a name="Page_lxv" id="Page_lxv"></a><span class="pageno">lxv</span> -which is one of the principal authorities of the -Dabistán. If the author of this latter work was, -as the often-quoted ingenuous author supposes, -“in strict intimacy with the sects of enthusiasts -by whom the Desátir was venerated, and whose -rule it was,” we may so much the more rely upon -the truth of his account concerning such a religious -association. If he professed the new religion, -which the emperor Akbar had endeavored to -found, as this was a revival of the ancient Persian -religion, we may reasonably presume, that he -would have searched, and brought to light writings -concerning it which were concealed, neglected, or -little known; he would have cautiously scrutinized -the authenticity of the documents, and conscientiously -respected the sacred sources of that faith, -which, after a careful examination of all others, -deserved his preference; nothing justifies the supposition, -that he would forge any thing himself, or -countenance, or not be able to detect, the forgery -of others. However this be, Mohsan Fani’s character -will be best known by the perusal of his work; -after a rapid synopsis of its contents, to which I will -now proceed, I shall be permitted to point out, as -briefly as possible, some of the merits and defects -conspicuous in his composition.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_20" id="footnote_20"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_20"><span class="muchsmaller">[20]</span></a> - See note, <abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 20.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_21" id="footnote_21"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_21"><span class="muchsmaller">[21]</span></a> - Ibid., <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 44.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_22" id="footnote_22"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_22"><span class="muchsmaller">[22]</span></a> - Calcutta edition, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 30, line 6.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_23" id="footnote_23"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_23"><span class="muchsmaller">[23]</span></a> - See <abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 534.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_24" id="footnote_24"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_24"><span class="muchsmaller">[24]</span></a> - <cite>Ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 65.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_25" id="footnote_25"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_25"><span class="muchsmaller">[25]</span></a> - M. Eugène Burnouf, to whose most valuable judgment I had the -pleasure to submit the question, prefers the derivation from <dfn>bhásh</dfn>, -because this word in Zend would be <dfn>wâsh</dfn>, as the Zend <span class="title">w</span> represents -exactly the Sanscrit <span class="title">bh</span>, which aspiration did not exist in the ancient -idiom of Bactrian Asia. This sagacious philologer hinted at a comparison -with the Persian <dfn>usta</dfn>, or <dfn>awesta</dfn>, upon which in a subsequent note.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_26" id="footnote_26"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_26"><span class="muchsmaller">[26]</span></a> - See the Persian text of the Dasátir, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 377.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_27" id="footnote_27"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_27"><span class="muchsmaller">[27]</span></a> - <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Tableau de l’Empire ottoman</cite>, by M. d’Ohson, <abbr title="tome Two, page">t. II. p.</abbr> 70.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_28" id="footnote_28"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_28"><span class="muchsmaller">[28]</span></a> - <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Journal des Savans, février</cite> 1821, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 74. The Persian passage -which de Sacy quotes, and in which there is <span class="title">Destánir</span> for <span class="title">Dasátir</span>, is -taken from the text published by Gladwin, and not from the printed -Calcutta edition.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_29" id="footnote_29"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_29"><span class="muchsmaller">[29]</span></a> - See Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British India and its -Dependencies, <abbr title="volume Eight">vol. VIII.</abbr>, from July to Dec. 1819, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 357.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_30" id="footnote_30"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_30"><span class="muchsmaller">[30]</span></a> - The <span class="title">Desátir</span>, or sacred writings of the ancient Persian prophets in -the original tongue; with the ancient Persian version, and commentary -of the fifth Sasan; published by Mulla Firuz Bin-i-Kaus. Bombay, 1818. -Mulla Firuz is supposed to possess the only copy of the Desátir extant. -He allowed sir John Malcolm to take a copy of it, which, by some accident, -was lost by Doctor Leyden—(See <abbr title="Transactions of the Literary Society">Transact. of the Lit. Soc.</abbr> of Bombay, -<abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 342 and 349).</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_31" id="footnote_31"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_31"><span class="muchsmaller">[31]</span></a> - Mohsan Fani marks the time of his composing the Dabistan (<abbr title="volume Two, page">vol. II. -p.</abbr> 50) to be the year of the Hejira 1055 (A. D. 1645).</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_32" id="footnote_32"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_32"><span class="muchsmaller">[32]</span></a> - See <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Journal des Savans</cite>, <abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> for January, 1821, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 16.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_33" id="footnote_33"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_33"><span class="muchsmaller">[33]</span></a> - Lucretius, book <abbr title="Five">V.</abbr>, <abbr title="Translation">Transl.</abbr> of Dr. Creech:</p> - -<div class="fnpoem2" lang="la" xml:lang="la"> - <div class="i0b">“— — putare aliquem tum nomina distribuisse</div> - <div class="i0">Rebus, et inde homines didicisse vocabula prima</div> - <div class="i0">Desipere est.”</div> -</div> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_34" id="footnote_34"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_34"><span class="muchsmaller">[34]</span></a> - Richardson’s Dictionary, preface, <abbr title="67">lxvii.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_35" id="footnote_35"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_35"><span class="muchsmaller">[35]</span></a> - This man, who never told his true name, was from the age of fifteen to -seventeen a private teacher—then passed for an Irishman—went to Rome -as a pilgrim with a habit stolen from before an altar where it was lying -as a votive offering of another pilgrim—wandered about in Germany, -Brabant, Flanders—indolent, abject, shameless, covered with vermin and -sores—entered the military service of Holland, which he left to become -waiter in a coffee-house in Aix-la-Chapelle—enlisted in the troops of the -elector of Cologne. He acted all these parts, with those above-mentioned, -before he was baptised under the name of George, by a Scotch clergyman, -and, having learned English, passed over to England to be protected -by Compton, the lord-bishop of London. At the expense of the latter, -he studied at Oxford—became a preceptor—chaplain of a regiment—fell -back into indolence, and lived upon alms.—(See A New and General -Dictionary, London, 1798, <abbr title="volume Twelve">vol. XII</abbr>; and <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Vie de plusieurs Personnages -célèbres des Temps anciens et modernes, par C. A. Walckenaer, membre -de l’Institut, tome <abbr title="2">II.</abbr></cite> 1830.)</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_36" id="footnote_36"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_36"><span class="muchsmaller">[36]</span></a> - This change took place in his thirty-second year—he learned Hebrew -and became an honest man, esteemed by Samuel Johnson; he wrote eleven -articles in a well-known work, the Universal History, and his own Life -at the age of seventy-three years; the latter work was published after his -death, which happened in his eighty-fourth year, in 1763.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_37" id="footnote_37"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_37"><span class="muchsmaller">[37]</span></a> - See <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Notices et Extraits des Manuscrits</cite>, <abbr title="volume Nine, pages">vol. IX. pp.</abbr> 365-396.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_38" id="footnote_38"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_38"><span class="muchsmaller">[38]</span></a> - I am here applying to the forger of a language what Lucretius, in -continuation of his above quoted verses (<a href="#footnote_33"><abbr title="page 30">p. xxx</abbr></a>), urges against the belief -that a single individual could ever have been the inventor of human -speech.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_39" id="footnote_39"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_39"><span class="muchsmaller">[39]</span></a> - By Norris, <cite>Asiatic Journal</cite>, <abbr title="volume Nine">vol. IX.</abbr>, November, 1820, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 430.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_40" id="footnote_40"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_40"><span class="muchsmaller">[40]</span></a> - <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Journal des Savans</cite>, February, 1821, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 69-70.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_41" id="footnote_41"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_41"><span class="muchsmaller">[41]</span></a> - See <abbr title="Transactions of the Literary Society">Transact. of the Lit. Soc.</abbr> of Bombay, <abbr title="volume Two">vol. II.</abbr>: “On the Authenticity -of the Desátir, with remarks on the Account of the Mahabadi -Religion contained in the Dabistan,” by William Erskine, <abbr title="esquire">esq.</abbr>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 360.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_42" id="footnote_42"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_42"><span class="muchsmaller">[42]</span></a> - The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British India and its -Dependencies, <abbr title="November">Novemb.</abbr> 1820, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 421 <span class="decoration">et seq.</span></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_43" id="footnote_43"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_43"><span class="muchsmaller">[43]</span></a> - The work quoted, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 360.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_44" id="footnote_44"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_44"><span class="muchsmaller">[44]</span></a> - The Asiatic Journal, November, 1820, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 421 <span class="decoration">et seq.</span></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_45" id="footnote_45"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_45"><span class="muchsmaller">[45]</span></a> - An Essay on the best means of ascertaining the affinities of Oriental -languages, by baron W. Humboldt, in the Transactions of the Royal -Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, <abbr title="volume two part one page">vol. II. part I. p.</abbr> 213.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_46" id="footnote_46"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_46"><span class="muchsmaller">[46]</span></a> - Colonel Harriot on the Oriental Origin of the Gypsies. <cite>Ibid.</cite>, 518.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_47" id="footnote_47"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_47"><span class="muchsmaller">[47]</span></a> - Erskine, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">loco cit.</i>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 372.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_48" id="footnote_48"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_48"><span class="muchsmaller">[48]</span></a> - See <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Réflexions sur l’Étude des Langues asiatiques, adressées à -sir James Mackintosh</cite>. Bonn, 1832, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 51-52.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_49" id="footnote_49"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_49"><span class="muchsmaller">[49]</span></a> - See Asiatic Researches, <abbr title="volume Eight London edition">vol. VIII. Lond. ed.</abbr> 8. <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 254.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_50" id="footnote_50"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_50"><span class="muchsmaller">[50]</span></a> - See <cite lang="de" xml:lang="de">Heidelberger Jahrbücher der Literatar Vom Jänner te Juni -1823</cite>, <abbr title="Numbers">N<sup>os</sup></abbr> 6. 12. 13. 18. 20.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_51" id="footnote_51"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_51"><span class="muchsmaller">[51]</span></a> - See <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Journal asiatique, tome <abbr title="12">XII.</abbr> juillet</cite> 1833, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 24-26.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_52" id="footnote_52"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_52"><span class="muchsmaller">[52]</span></a> - <span class="decoration">Ibidem</span>, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 20-21. Deri was spoken on the other side of the Oxus, -and at the foot of the Paropamisus in Balkh, Meru, in the Badakhshan, -in Bokhara and Bamian. The Pehlevi was used in Media proper, in the -towns of Rai, Hamadan, Ispahan, Nehawend, and Tabriz, the capital of -Azar bíján.—Beside the Deri and Pehlevi, Persian dictionaries reckon five -other dialects, altogether twelve dialects, of ancient and modern Persian.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_53" id="footnote_53"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_53"><span class="muchsmaller">[53]</span></a> - <cite>Tholuck</cite>. <cite lang="la" xml:lang="la">Sufismus, sive Theosophia Pantheistica</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 111.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_54" id="footnote_54"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_54"><span class="muchsmaller">[54]</span></a> - Norris, Asiatic Journal, November, 1820, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 430.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_55" id="footnote_55"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_55"><span class="muchsmaller">[55]</span></a> - Clio, <abbr title="liber One">lib. I.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_56" id="footnote_56"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_56"><span class="muchsmaller">[56]</span></a> - In the Bible it is called Paras, or Faras, and reckoned as extensive -as Great and Little Armenia, or as Hungary, Transylvania, Slavonia, -Croatia, and Dalmatia together.—(See <cite>Gatterer’s <span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Weltgeschichte <abbr title="zweiter">II<sup>ter</sup></abbr> -Theil, Seite 9</span></cite>.)</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_57" id="footnote_57"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_57"><span class="muchsmaller">[57]</span></a> - In the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_58" id="footnote_58"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_58"><span class="muchsmaller">[58]</span></a> - See <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Observations sur les Monumens historiques de l’ancienne Perse, -par Étienne Quatremère</cite>. <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Journal des Savans, juin et juillet</cite> 1840, -<abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 347-348.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_59" id="footnote_59"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_59"><span class="muchsmaller">[59]</span></a> - The Orientals place him in the tenth century B. C.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_60" id="footnote_60"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_60"><span class="muchsmaller">[60]</span></a> - According to Richardson (see the preface of his <abbr title="Dictionary, page six">Dict., p. vi</abbr>), the -Farsi was peculiarly cultivated by the great and learned, above 1200 -years before the Muhammedan era, <span class="decoration">i. e.</span> above 600 years B. C., which -epoch is commonly assigned to Gushtasp’s reign.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_61" id="footnote_61"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_61"><span class="muchsmaller">[61]</span></a> - See Hammer’s <cite lang="de" xml:lang="de">Schöne Redekünste Persiens, Seite 3</cite> <span class="decoration">et seq.</span></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_62" id="footnote_62"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_62"><span class="muchsmaller">[62]</span></a> - Strabo, who flourished in the beginning of the Christian era, and -drew his information mostly from the historians of Alexander, refers -probably to the time of the Macedonian conquest, when he says (<abbr title="15, 2, section 8, folio 724, edition Casaubon">xv. 2, -§ 8, fol. 724, edit. Cas.</abbr>): that the Medians, Persians, Arians, Baktrians, -and Sogdians spoke almost the same language. This probably was that -of the then leading nation, the Persian.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_63" id="footnote_63"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_63"><span class="muchsmaller">[63]</span></a> - Hammer, <cite>loc. cit.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 7.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_64" id="footnote_64"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_64"><span class="muchsmaller">[64]</span></a> - Works of sir W. Jones, <abbr title="volume Five, page">vol. V. p.</abbr> 426, Transactions of the Literary -Society of Bombay, <abbr title="volume two page">vol. II. p.</abbr> 297.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_65" id="footnote_65"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_65"><span class="muchsmaller">[65]</span></a> - <cite>Loco cit.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 363.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_66" id="footnote_66"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_66"><span class="muchsmaller">[66]</span></a> - See the preface to the most valuable work <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Le Divan d’Amro’lkais</cite>, -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">par le baron Mac Guckin de Slane</span>, Paris, 1837, <abbr title="pages 8 and 9">pp. viii and ix.</abbr> The -learned author confirms that celebrated Arabian poems existed before the -introduction of the Muhammedan religion, which, for a certain time, -averted the Arabs from the cultivation of poetry and history. We shall -here add (which would have been more appropriately placed in the note -upon Amro’lKais, in <abbr title="volume Three page">vol. III p.</abbr> 65, and will correct the same) that this -poet (see <cite>loc. cit.</cite>, <abbr title="page 16">p. xvi</abbr> <span class="decoration">et seq.</span>) flourished at an epoch anterior to Muhammed, -and died probably before the birth of that extraordinary man.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_67" id="footnote_67"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_67"><span class="muchsmaller">[67]</span></a> - <cite>Loco citato</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 372.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_68" id="footnote_68"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_68"><span class="muchsmaller">[68]</span></a> - See <abbr title="volume one pages">vol. I. pp.</abbr> 87 <span class="decoration">et seq.</span></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_69" id="footnote_69"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_69"><span class="muchsmaller">[69]</span></a> - <cite lang="de" xml:lang="de">Heidelberger Jahrbücher, loc. cit. Seite</cite> 313.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_70" id="footnote_70"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_70"><span class="muchsmaller">[70]</span></a> - The Dabistán (see <abbr title="Persian">Pers.</abbr> text, Calcutta <abbr title="edition">edit.</abbr>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 69, and English <abbr title="translation">transl.</abbr>, -<abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 145) quotes verses containing this profession, addressed by -Khosru Parviz to a Roman emperor, whose name, however, is not mentioned. -During the reign of this Persian king, two emperors ruled in the -East, namely, Mauritius, whose daughter Parviz married, and Heraclius, -by whom he was defeated towards the end of his life. I found it -probable, but had no authority to assert (see <abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 145, <a href="#footnote_348">note 2</a>), that -the above-stated profession was made to Mauritius; but those verses by -themselves deserve attention, as they establish the adherence of Parviz to -the religion of Hoshang, in contradiction to several historians, according -to whom he adopted Christianity: this assertion seems founded upon his -great attachment to the celebrated <span class="person">Mary</span>, or <span class="person">Chirín</span>, his Christian wife, -and daughter of a Christian emperor, the said Mauritius.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_71" id="footnote_71"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_71"><span class="muchsmaller">[71]</span></a> - Muhammed, when informed of the ignominious reception which the -Persian king gave to his letter and ambassador, said: “God will tear his -empire, as he tore my letter, to pieces.”—(Herbelot.)</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_72" id="footnote_72"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_72"><span class="muchsmaller">[72]</span></a> - The Desátir, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 99.</p> - -<hr class="short" /> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<a name="Page_lxvi" id="Page_lxvi"></a><span class="pageno">lxvi</span> -<h3 class="p2 h3head">PART <abbr title="Two">II.</abbr></h3> - -<p class="hanging larger">SYNOPSIS OF THE DYNASTIES, RELIGIONS, SECTS, -AND PHILOSOPHIC OPINIONS, TREATED OF IN -THE DABISTAN.</p> - -<hr class="short" /> - -<p class="p2 unindent hanging"><abbr title="Section One">§ I.</abbr>—THE FIRST RELIGION—THE DYNASTIES OF MAHABAD, -ABAD AZAR, SHAI ABAD, SHAI GILIV, SHAI MAHBUL, -AND YASAN.</p> - -<p>Mohsan Fani exhibits the remarkable notions, -dogmas, customs, and ceremonies of twelve religions, -and their various sects, without giving more of their -origin and genesis than the names of their founders. -The very first principle of all religion is referred, -by some, to a primitive Divine revelation; by others, -to a natural propensity of the human mind to superstition. -However this may be, history confirms the -suggestions of psychology, that admiration was one -of the principal sources of religious feelings; how -should man not be struck with the glories of the sky? -Therefore, the adoration of stars was one of the -most ancient religions. It needed no prophet: it is -“<em>the poetry of heaven</em>,” imprinted in eternal characters -of fire upon the ethereal expanse. Prometheus, -<a name="Page_lxvii" id="Page_lxvii"></a><span class="pageno">lxvii</span> -enumerating the benefits which he bestowed upon -untutored barbarians, says:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_73" id="fnanchor_73"></a><a href="#footnote_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“— — — At random all their works</div> - <div class="i0">Till I instructed them to mark the stars,</div> - <div class="i0">Their rising, and, a harder science yet,</div> - <div class="i0">Their setting.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_74" id="fnanchor_74"></a><a href="#footnote_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a></span></div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>According to all traditions, astronomy was one -of the first sciences cultivated by men.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_75" id="fnanchor_75"></a><a href="#footnote_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a></span> The stars -not only occasioned the institution, but also served -to announce the regular return, of religious feasts; -thus they became, as called by Plato, “the instruments -of time,” men were at once induced and -taught by religion to count months and years. Astronomy, -in her feast-calendars, consecrated upon -an altar the first fruits of her labors.</p> - -<p>Upon the star-paved path of heaven man was -conducted to the sanctuary of the supreme Being. -In general, the first feeling of “the Divine (<span lang="el" xml:lang="el">το θεῖον</span>),” -seizing the human mind with its own supernatural -power, elevated it at once above the material concerns -<a name="Page_lxviii" id="Page_lxviii"></a><span class="pageno">lxviii</span> -of the nether world; thus, sublime ideas of -the Deity, the universe, and the immortality of the -soul preceded the invention of many arts and sciences -relative to the comforts of social life. This is confirmed -by the account, contained in the Dabistán, of -the most ancient religion of the Persians, which is -founded upon transcendental ideas of the Divinity: -“Except God himself, who can comprehend his -origin? Entity, unity, identity are inseparable -properties of this original essence, and are not -adventitious to Him.” So the Desátir, with -which the Dabistán generally so fully agrees, that we -can scarce doubt that the author of the latter had -the former before his eyes.</p> - -<p>No sooner has man acquired the consciousness -of mental freedom, than he endeavors to expand -beyond himself the first vague feeling of the Divine; -not satisfied to admire all exterior marvel, he desires -to understand and to name its interior moving -cause: this is something immaterial; it is a soul, -such as acts in himself. Among the ancient Iranians, -the “first creation of the existence-bestowing -bounty” was the intellectual principle, called <dfn>Azad -Bahman</dfn>, “the first intelligence;” he is also the first -angel; from him other spirits or angels proceed. -Every star, every heavenly sphere has its particular -intelligence and spirit or angel. In the lower region, -each of the four elements owns its particular -<a name="Page_lxix" id="Page_lxix"></a><span class="pageno">lxix</span> -guardian; vegetables, minerals, animals have their -protecting angels; the conservative angel of mankind -is <span class="title">Farun Faro Vakshur</span>. It is not without reason, -that this religion was called “the religion of light.” -As the supreme Being</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i2b">“Sow’d with stars the heav’n thick as the field.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_76" id="fnanchor_76"></a><a href="#footnote_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a></span></div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">So also he peopled the vast extent with the “sons -of light, the empyreal host of angels,” who not only -moved and governed the celestial orbs, but also -descended into the elemental regions to direct, promote, -and protect his creation. Not a drop of dew -fell without an angel. The Hindus and Greeks animated -universal nature; the Persians imparadized -the whole creation by making it the abode of angels. -Hence demonology in all its extent. But, “<em>among</em> -the most resplendent, powerful, and glorious -of the servants who are free from inferior bodies -and matter, there is none God’s enemy or rival, -or disobedient, or cast down, or annihilated.” -This important passage of the Desátir<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_77" id="fnanchor_77"></a><a href="#footnote_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a></span> I shall have -occasion to refer to hereafter.</p> - -<p>Human souls are eternal and infinite; they come -from above, and are spirits of the upper spheres. -If distinguished for knowledge and sanctity, while -on earth, they return above, are united with the -sun, and become empyreal sovereigns; but if the -<a name="Page_lxx" id="Page_lxx"></a><span class="pageno">lxx</span> -proportion of their good works bore a closer affinity -to any other star, they become lords of the place -assigned to that star; their stations are in conformity -with the degrees of their virtue; perfect men attain -the beatific vision of the light of lights, and the cherubine -hosts of the supreme Lord. Vice and depravity, -on the contrary, separate souls from the -primitive source of light, and chain them to the -abode of the elements: they become evil spirits. The -imperfectly good migrate from one body to another, -until, by the efficacy of good words and actions, -they are finally emancipated from matter, and gain -a higher rank. The thoroughly-depraved descend -from the human form to animal bodies, to vegetable, -and even to mineral substances.</p> - -<p>So far we see the well-known dogma of transmigration -ingeniously combined with the Sidereal -religion. Here is exhibited a singular system of -heavenly dominion, maintained by every star, whether -fixed or planetary, during periods of many -thousand years. A fixed star begins the revolution, -and reigns alone, the king of the cycle, during a -millenium, after which, each of the fixed and planetary -stars becomes its partner or prime-minister -for a thousand years; the last of all is the moon, for -a millenium. Then the sovereignty of the first king -devolves to the star which was its first associate. -This second king goes through the same course as -<a name="Page_lxxi" id="Page_lxxi"></a><span class="pageno">lxxi</span> -the first, until this becomes for a thousand years -his partner, and then his period is also past. The -same is the course of all other stars. When the -moon shall have been king, and all stars associated -with it and its reign too past, then one great period -shall be accomplished. The state of the revolving -world recommences, the human beings, animals, -vegetables, and minerals, which existed during the -first cycle, are restored to their former language, -acts, dispositions, species, and appearances; the -world is renovated, that is to say, forms, similar to -those which passed away, reappear. This system, -copied from the Desátir,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_78" id="fnanchor_78"></a><a href="#footnote_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a></span> expresses nothing else but -the general vague idea of long heavenly revolutions, -and periodical renovations of the same order of -things in the nether world.</p> - -<p>The Dabistán<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_79" id="fnanchor_79"></a><a href="#footnote_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a></span> adds a mode of computing as peculiar -to the followers of the ancient faith: they call -one revolution of the regent Saturn a day; thirty -such days one month; twelve such months one year; -a million of such years one <dfn>fard</dfn>; a million fard one -<dfn>vard</dfn>; a million vard one <dfn>mard</dfn>; a million vard one -<dfn>jad</dfn>; three thousand jads one <dfn>vad</dfn>; and two thousand -vád one <dfn>zád</dfn>. To these I must subjoin <dfn>salam</dfn>, <dfn>shamar</dfn>, -<dfn>aspar</dfn>, <dfn>radah</dfn>, <dfn>aradah</dfn>, <dfn>raz</dfn>, <dfn>araz</dfn>, <dfn>biaraz</dfn>, that is, -<a name="Page_lxxii" id="Page_lxxii"></a><span class="pageno">lxxii</span> -eight members of a geometric progression, the first -of which is 100,000, and the coefficient 100. But -these years are revolutions, called <dfn>farsals</dfn>, of thirty -common years each. There are besides farsals of -Mars, Venus, Mercury, and the moon, a day of each -being the time of their respective revolution.</p> - -<p>I thought it necessary to repeat these extravagant -numbers, because it is by them that the reigns of the -first ancient dynasties are measured.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_80" id="fnanchor_80"></a><a href="#footnote_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a></span> The first -earthly ruler of the present cycle, who with his wife -survived the great period to become the first ancestor -of a new innumerable population, was <span class="person">Mahabada</span>. -This name seems of Sanscrit derivation.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_81" id="fnanchor_81"></a><a href="#footnote_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a></span> In his -reign we find traced the first ground-lines of all -human societies; agriculture and the arts of life are -invented; villages and cities organised; four classes -of society established—priests, warriors, agriculturists, -and tradesmen. The names of these classes -are in the Dabistán much like those of the four -<a name="Page_lxxiii" id="Page_lxxiii"></a><span class="pageno">lxxiii</span> -Hindu <span class="title">castes</span>, but the Desátir and the Shahnamah -have other denominations, belonging to an ancient -Persian dialect,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_82" id="fnanchor_82"></a><a href="#footnote_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a></span> for these divisions, which originated -in the indispensable wants of a rising society. -This institution connects itself with the principles -of social morality: men are bound to each other by -the laws of justice and mutual kindness, which is -extended even to all innoxious creatures. To Mahabad -the <span class="title">Desátir</span> was sent, a celestial code, and his -faith was maintained through the whole series of -his fourteen successors; the number of whom reminds -us of the fourteen Indian Manus; they are -said to have reigned six hundred and six trillions -of years.</p> - -<p>To the Mahabadians succeeded <span class="person">Abad Azar</span>, who -soon withdrew from government, and devoted himself -to solitude and piety. After him, the hitherto -fortunate state of society changed into war, confusion, -and anarchy. His son, <span class="person">Jai Afram</span>, was called -to the throne, and restored peace and order in the -world, giving his name to a new dynasty. After -this, four other princely families are named, that of -<span class="person">Shai Abad</span>, <span class="person">Shai Giliv</span>, -<span class="person">Shai Mahbul</span>, and <span class="person">Yasan</span>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_83" id="fnanchor_83"></a><a href="#footnote_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a></span> I -shall not count the many millions of years during -<a name="Page_lxxiv" id="Page_lxxiv"></a><span class="pageno">lxxiv</span> -which they ruled; all that is said of their reigns -appears nothing but a repetition of the first; a -period of peace, order, and happiness is followed -by war, disorder, and misery, until a revolution -renews the state of things. Such traditions of a -progress and regress in virtue and happiness, and -of repeated changes from one condition to another, -are not destitute of general truth. The moral is not, -more than the physical world, exempt from revolutions. -These, although their date cannot be determined, -have left behind them undeniable traces, -and without a reference to them, we could not explain -so much of the strangeness, incoherence, and -heterogeneity in the history of men and nature.</p> - -<p>Thus I have slightly sketched the principal features -of the religion which prevailed among the first -Persian dynasties; these, not mentioned in other -historical books, are we know peculiar to the Desátir -and Dabistán, which appeared to sir W. Jones an -unexceptionable authority for believing the Iranian -monarchy “the oldest in the world.” Upon this, -W. Erskine remarked:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_84" id="fnanchor_84"></a><a href="#footnote_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a></span> “Shall I be forgiven for -saying, that the history of letters seems to me -scarcely to afford an instance of a more perverted -judgment on historical evidence?” Silvestre de -Sacy<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_85" id="fnanchor_85"></a><a href="#footnote_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a></span> too “banishes among the most absurd fables -<a name="Page_lxxv" id="Page_lxxv"></a><span class="pageno">lxxv</span> -the dynasties of the Mahabadians, and of their -successors, which sir William Jones, and after -him some other Orientalists, have too hastily -adopted, and of which they would to-day blush, -since their titles have been produced.” More -recently, William von Schlegel<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_86" id="fnanchor_86"></a><a href="#footnote_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a></span> said: “It would -be useless to conceal to the public that that learned -man, endowed with talents so rare, was totally -deficient in historical criticism:” This was inferred, -because he had admitted, and used in -some of his considerations, as genuine, a forgery -of Wilford’s Pandit. Besides, “he received without -diffidence, and even welcomed with enthusiasm, -the traditions contained in the Dabistán, a modern -Persian book, written with <em>the intention to claim -for Persia the pre-eminence over India with respect to -the antiquity of religious revelations</em>.”</p> - -<p>As to “the intention” mentioned, I hope to be -able to justify Mohsan Fani. With respect to the -Mahabadian dynasties—the light recently acquired -upon the ancient history of Persia, reflect rather -favorably upon that part of sir William Jones’s opinion, -that this country, in its wide extent, was once -the original seat of many nations now settled in distant -regions. So much, at least, may be considered -as established: 1. that the limits of history are to -<a name="Page_lxxvi" id="Page_lxxvi"></a><span class="pageno">lxxvi</span> -be removed further back than those before fixed; -2. that in the earliest times primitive nations, related -by language to each other, had their origin in the -common elevated country of central Asia, and that -the Iranians and Indians were once united before -their migration into Iran and India.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_87" id="fnanchor_87"></a><a href="#footnote_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a></span> This great -fact presents itself, as it were, upon the border of a -vast abyss of unknown times.</p> - -<p>For these a measure was sought. Hence we meet -with extravagant, but perpetually recurring chronological -statements. The Mahabadian ages are neither -better nor worse, as to accuracy, than the Indian -yugs, the Chaldean,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_88" id="fnanchor_88"></a><a href="#footnote_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a></span> or other periods. In order to -reduce them to their true value, we must consider -them as nothing else than expressions of the ideas -which the ancients entertained of the antiquity of -the world and human society, in which they cannot -be easily refuted, and at least are not absurd. Such -ideas originated, when man, curious after his past, -had long ceased to be a listless barbarian; but the -earliest civilisation is a late product of slow-working -time, the memory of which could have been preserved -<a name="Page_lxxvii" id="Page_lxxvii"></a><span class="pageno">lxxvii</span> -only by monuments. The most ancient of -these however are but recent in our historical knowledge, -the limits of which are far from being those of -antiquity. The duration of ante-historical empires, -in printless but extensive spaces of times, escapes -research and computation. As men, however, bear -with impatience vague and loose ideas, the Persians, -as well as other nations, determined the past by -numbers formed from the multiplication of some -astronomical periods known in early times, as has -been observed:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_89" id="fnanchor_89"></a><a href="#footnote_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a></span> this appears to me at once the -whole truth and falsehood of those statements. In -the utter impossibility to reconcile the discordant -data of different nations, we must content ourselves -to take up the general ideas and facts in which they -all agree, whilst in the particulars they all differ. -Thus, in laying down maps of countries little known, -we are satisfied with tracing the general direction of -some rivers and mountains, and abstain from topographical -details.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_73" id="footnote_73"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_73"><span class="muchsmaller">[73]</span></a> -</p> - -<div class="fnpoem" lang="el" xml:lang="el"> - <div class="i0">Προμηθευς δεσμωτης,</div> - <div class="i0">— — — — ἄτης γνώμης τὸ πᾶν</div> - <div class="i0">Ἔπρασσον, ἔς τε δή σφιν ἀντολὰς ἐγὼ</div> - <div class="i0">Αστρων ἔδειξα, τάς τε δυσκρίτους δύσεις.</div> - <div class="i6">(<abbr title="verses">v.</abbr> 457-459).</div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_74" id="footnote_74"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_74"><span class="muchsmaller">[74]</span></a> - <abbr title="Translation">Transl.</abbr> by Dr. Potter.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_75" id="footnote_75"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_75"><span class="muchsmaller">[75]</span></a> - Hyde, who did not know the Dabistán, says (<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 188): that a year, or -calendar, of Median invention was introduced in Persia, before Jamshid, -that is, according to Ferdusi’s not irrational chronology, earlier than -3429 before our era.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_76" id="footnote_76"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_76"><span class="muchsmaller">[76]</span></a> - Milton’s Paradise Lost, <abbr title="book Seven verse">b. VII. v.</abbr> 358.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_77" id="footnote_77"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_77"><span class="muchsmaller">[77]</span></a> - The book of Shet Shai Kiliv, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 59. <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 56.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_78" id="footnote_78"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_78"><span class="muchsmaller">[78]</span></a> - Bombay <abbr title="edition English translation">edit. Engl. transl.</abbr>, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 19. 20.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_79" id="footnote_79"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_79"><span class="muchsmaller">[79]</span></a> - <abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 14. The Bombay Desátir does not mention the revolution -of Saturn, and states differently the value of fard, mard, etc., etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_80" id="footnote_80"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_80"><span class="muchsmaller">[80]</span></a> - It is known that in India, and perhaps all over Asia, the number of -ciphers not followed by a significative number, is indifferent, and indicates -nothing else but magnitude. Thus the Hindus, to determine positively -hundreds, thousands, etc., affix the required figure at the end: for -instance, to determine 100 rupees to be given, they write 101.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_81" id="footnote_81"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_81"><span class="muchsmaller">[81]</span></a> - The word is perhaps a form of the Sanscrit <dfn>Mahábodhi</dfn>, “a great -deified teacher.” In the Burhani Kati we find six significations attributed -to the word <dfn>Abad</dfn>; these are: 1. cultivated; 2. praise and prayer; -3. exclamation of praise; 4. the name of the Kaba; 5. the name of the first -Persian prophet; 6. good and beauteous.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_82" id="footnote_82"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_82"><span class="muchsmaller">[82]</span></a> - See <abbr title="volume one pages">vol. I. pp.</abbr> <a href="#Page_19">19-20</a>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_83" id="footnote_83"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_83"><span class="muchsmaller">[83]</span></a> - I have (see <abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 26, <a href="#footnote_248">note 1</a>) derived this name from the Sanscrit -<dfn>yas</dfn>, “glory, honor.” In Burhan Katii it is interpreted by “what -is convenient.”</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_84" id="footnote_84"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_84"><span class="muchsmaller">[84]</span></a> - <cite>Loco cit.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 342.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_85" id="footnote_85"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_85"><span class="muchsmaller">[85]</span></a> - <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><abbr title="Journal">Journ.</abbr> des Savans, février 1821</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 69.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_86" id="footnote_86"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_86"><span class="muchsmaller">[86]</span></a> - See <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Réflexions sur l’Étude des Langues orientales</cite>, <cite>loc. cit.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 51.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_87" id="footnote_87"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_87"><span class="muchsmaller">[87]</span></a> - See the development of these ideas in <cite lang="de" xml:lang="de">Erdkunde von Carl Ritter, -VIII<sup>ter</sup> Theil; III<sup>ter</sup> Buch, West-asien Seiten</cite> 105-109, with reference to -<cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">E. Burnouf <abbr title="Commentaire">Comment.</abbr> sur le Yacna</cite>, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 461, 563.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_88" id="footnote_88"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_88"><span class="muchsmaller">[88]</span></a> - We may be here permitted to call to mind the eras of the Chaldeans, -who, according to Berosus, Epigenes, Diodorus of Sicily, Abydenus -counted 490,000, 720,000, 473,000, 463,763 years. They are said to -have exhibited, before Alexander’s conquest in Asia, historical annals -for 150,000 years.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_89" id="footnote_89"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_89"><span class="muchsmaller">[89]</span></a> - See <a href="#Page_lxvii">p. lxvii</a>.</p> -<hr class="short" /> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p2 unindent hanging"><abbr title="Section Two">§ II.</abbr>—<span class="sc">The Peshdadian, Kayanian, Ashkanian, and -Sassanian Dynasties—their religious and political -institutions.</span></p> - -<p>After the four dynasties mentioned follows the -<dfn>Gilshanian</dfn>, monarchy, founded by <span class="title">Gilshah</span>, or <span class="title">Kayomers</span>, -<a name="Page_lxxviii" id="Page_lxxviii"></a><span class="pageno">lxxviii</span> -“the king or form of earth.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_90" id="fnanchor_90"></a><a href="#footnote_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a></span> We are now -upon well-known ground, and hear familiar names -of four races: the <span class="title">Péshdadian</span>, <span class="title">Kayanian</span>, <span class="title">Ashkaniun</span>, -and <span class="title">Sassanian</span>, to which, altogether, the Dabistán -attributes a period of 6024 years, differing considerably -from that of other Asiatic chronologers.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_91" id="fnanchor_91"></a><a href="#footnote_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a></span></p> - -<p>Sir William Jones was right when he declared,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_92" id="fnanchor_92"></a><a href="#footnote_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a></span> -that “the annals of the <span class="title">Péshdadi</span> (or Assyrian) race -must be obscure and fabulous; those of the Kayání -family, or the Medes and Persians, heroic and -poetic:” annals gathered from oral traditions -can be but such as the great Orientalist characterises -those of the mentioned dynasties. But it was -in his younger years, before he had enlarged his -views upon the history of mankind, that he fixed the -origin of the Persian monarchy so late as 890 years -before our era;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_93" id="fnanchor_93"></a><a href="#footnote_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a></span> afterwards, in India, he refuted his -former notions, and ranged more freely in the expanded -fields of antiquity. I shall add that Ferdusi -places the beginning of Gilshah’s reign 3529 years -before Christ, an epoch which receives synchronical -confirmation from our daily-increasing knowledge of -the antiquity of China, India, Assyria, Egypt, and -other states.</p> - -<p><a name="Page_lxxix" id="Page_lxxix"></a><span class="pageno">lxxix</span> -The fundamental religion remains the same: a -celestial volume called <span class="title">Payman-i-farhang</span>, in perfect -accord with the Mahabadian code, is transmitted to -Kayomers. So the Dabistán: but, in the Desátir, -the four books ascribed to the first four Mahabadian -prophet-kings contain the purest deism, and although -the foundation of astrolatry and demonolatry -may be perceived in the cosmology of the first book, -yet these did not form a positive worship, which -develops itself in the seven planetary books of the -seven subsequent Persian kings, to wit: <span class="person">Kayomers</span>, <span class="person">Siamok</span>, -<span class="person">Hushang</span>, <span class="person">Tahmúras</span>, <span class="person">Jamshid</span>, <span class="person">Feridun</span>, and <span class="person">Menocheher</span>. -Under these monarchs, a particular worship -was rendered to the seven planets, as to mediators -between God and men; the description of the forms -under which they have been adored, is not, to my -knowledge, found in any other book but the Dabistán.</p> - -<p>Superstition is certainly as ancient as human nature -itself; it is impossible to fix the epoch at -which particular opinions and practices originated, -such as the eighty-four sitting-postures at prayer; -the suppression of the breath for the abstraction -of thought; the mystical and fantastical notions -upon vision and revelation; and particularly the -belief that a man may attain the faculty to quit and -to reassume his body, or to consider it as a loose -garment, which he may put off at pleasure for ascending -<a name="Page_lxxx" id="Page_lxxx"></a><span class="pageno">lxxx</span> -to the world of light, and on his return be -reunited with the material elements. All these -matters are considered as very ancient.</p> - -<p>We find in the Dabistán a curious account of Persian -sects under different names, such as <span class="title">Abadians</span>, -<span class="title">Azur-Húshangians</span>, <span class="title">Jamshaspians</span>, <span class="title">Samradians</span>, <span class="title">Khodaiyans</span>, -<span class="title">Radians</span>, <span class="title">Shidrangians</span>, <span class="title">Paikarians</span>, <span class="title">Milanians</span>, -<span class="title">Alarians</span>, <span class="title">Shidabians</span>, <span class="title">Akshiyans</span>. The founders of -these sects are placed so far back as the reigns of -Jamshid and Zohak. Individuals professing the -particular creed of each of these sects were living in -the time of the author of the Dabistán, who was -personally acquainted with several of them, and imparts -the information which he had himself received -from their lips. He gives with particular -care an account of the before-mentioned Azar Kaivan,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_94" id="fnanchor_94"></a><a href="#footnote_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a></span> -the chief of the later <span class="title">Abadíans</span> and <span class="title">Azar-Hushangians</span>. -The doctrine of these sectaries contained -peculiar notions about God’s nature and attributes, -and the world; the latter was to some an illusion; -God himself but an idea. To others, God -was every thing, to be served alone without a mediator -between him and mankind; the heavens and -the stars were his companions. God was the sun—fire—air—water—earth; -he was the essence of the -elements: from every one of these divine principles -<a name="Page_lxxxi" id="Page_lxxxi"></a><span class="pageno">lxxxi</span> -the heavens, stars, and the whole world proceeded. -These were some of the fundamental principles of -their metaphysical religion.</p> - -<p>Their morality appears to have consisted in the -acknowledgment of all natural virtues; piety, justice, -charity, sobriety; wine and strong drinks -were forbidden; above all a tenderness towards all -living creatures was recommended; and the severity -against those who slew innoxious animals was -carried to such an excess, than even sons punished -their fathers with death, and fathers their -sons, for the slaughter of a sheep or an elk.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_95" id="fnanchor_95"></a><a href="#footnote_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a></span></p> - -<p>Their political constitution appears from the earliest -time to have been that of an absolute monarchy: -this is the curse attached to Asiatics. The -king was to be of a noble descent, and bound to acknowledge -the <dfn>Farhang-Abad</dfn>, “code of Abad.” All -dignities, military and civil, were hereditary from -father to son. The royal court and inner apartments -appear to have been regulated in much the -same manner as they are still in Asia; his cup-bearers -and familiar servants, as well as those of his -sons, and other nobles, were always females.</p> - -<p>The interior administration of cities and villages -is sufficiently detailed in the Dabistán. An active -police was established, with numerous spies and -<a name="Page_lxxxii" id="Page_lxxxii"></a><span class="pageno">lxxxii</span> -secret reporters, for the security of government. -We are glad to find in such early times hospitals for -the relief of the suffering, and caravansaras for the -convenience of travellers. Moreover, post-stations -of horses and messengers were distributed for the -rapid communication of news, from all sides of the -vast empire, to the monarch.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_96" id="fnanchor_96"></a><a href="#footnote_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a></span></p> - -<p>Not a little care was bestowed upon the discipline -and continual exercise of numerous armies. The -military chiefs were distinguished by the magnificent -decorations of their persons, horses, and arms, -in which they prided themselves. They were bound -to treat their soldiers kindly, nay, obliged to produce -certificates, from their subordinates, of having -behaved well towards them. An order of battle -was prescribed, in which they were to encounter the -enemy; no plunder after victory was permitted; -they never slew, nor treated with violence, a man -who had thrown down his arms and asked for -quarter.</p> - -<p>History may well be referred to religion, which -is an ancient intellectual monument, living in the -human soul from generation to generation. I have -hitherto marked two religious periods: the first, -that of the <span class="title">Desátir</span>, through the Mahabadian dynasty; -<a name="Page_lxxxiii" id="Page_lxxxiii"></a><span class="pageno">lxxxiii</span> -the second, that of <span class="title">Paiman-í-Farhang</span>, prevailing -during the Pésh-dadi-race until the middle of the -Kayanian reign; I now come to the third.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_90" id="footnote_90"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_90"><span class="muchsmaller">[90]</span></a> - The first word is pure Persian; the other may be derived from the -Sanscrit <dfn>kaya</dfn>, “body, form,” and <dfn>mrita</dfn>, “earth.”</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_91" id="footnote_91"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_91"><span class="muchsmaller">[91]</span></a> - See <abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 31, <a href="#footnote_251">note 1.</a></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_92" id="footnote_92"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_92"><span class="muchsmaller">[92]</span></a> - His Works, <abbr title="volume Three">vol. III.</abbr> the sixth Anniversary Discourse, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 108.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_93" id="footnote_93"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_93"><span class="muchsmaller">[93]</span></a> - <cite>Ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="volume twelve page">vol. XII. p.</abbr> 399.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_94" id="footnote_94"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_94"><span class="muchsmaller">[94]</span></a> - See <a href="#Page_63">page 63.</a></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_95" id="footnote_95"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_95"><span class="muchsmaller">[95]</span></a> - See <abbr title="volume one pages">vol. I. pp.</abbr> <a href="#Page_181">181</a>. <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_96" id="footnote_96"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_96"><span class="muchsmaller">[96]</span></a> - <dfn>Parasang</dfn>, <dfn>Farsang</dfn>, even in our days a Persian word, is found and -determined as a lineal measure of distances in Herodotus, <abbr title="liber Two Five and Six">lib. II. V. -and VI.</abbr></p> - -<p class="p2 unindent hanging"><abbr title="Section Three">§ III.</abbr>—<span class="sc">The Religion of Zardusht, or Zoroaster.</span></p> - -<p>All religions are said to have deviated from their -primitive simplicity and purity, as men advanced -in knowledge and civilisation. This is true but in -a restricted and distinctive sense, and may be -explained, even without yielding to our habit of -considering that which is more remote and less -known as holier than that which is nearer and better -examined. Thus, we may admit that the impressions -made upon men in the first stage of expanding -reason are stronger and more vivid, the less -they are distracted by simultaneous and correlative -associations; one great idea is enough to fill their -whole mind, and admits of no rival, of no commixture -with any thing else; curiosity, versatility, luxuriancy -of intellect are not yet known; constancy is -a necessity in a small compass of ideas. We have -already touched<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_97" id="fnanchor_97"></a><a href="#footnote_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a></span> upon the powerful effect which -the early perception of the <em>Divine</em> produced upon -man: but he soon circumscribed what was too vast -<a name="Page_lxxxiv" id="Page_lxxxiv"></a><span class="pageno">lxxxiv</span> -or his comprehension in a perceptible object—heaven, -sun, fire, to which he offered his adoration; -he wanted a visible type or image of the invisible -Divinity; but, his means of formation being at first -very confined, he contented himself with the most -simple representation: he had a symbol, an idol in -a grove or cavern, but not yet a Pantheon. Simplicity -may be a mere restriction to one object or to -few objects; purity, nothing else but homogeneity in -good or bad, true or false; we shall not confound -them with rationality, which may subsist with multiplicity -and mixture. Thus, the adoration of one -deified man, one great serpent, one huge stone, is -by no means more rational than the worship of -numerous generations of gods, the ingenious personification -sof multiform nature, ever acknowledged -as the genuine offspring of the happy marriage -between intellect and imagination. In the -absence of arts and riches, worship is rude and destitute -of showy accessories. Afterwards, the development -of the understanding widens the field of -reasoning, the fertility of which may be attested -more by the shoot of weeds than by the growth of -fruits: error prevails over truth; the increase of -manifold resources facilitates and prompts superfetation -of exterior religion. Besides, the impressions, -by which the first legislator attached his followers -to his doctrine, are effaced by time; the first -<a name="Page_lxxxv" id="Page_lxxxv"></a><span class="pageno">lxxxv</span> -traditions, obscured, confused, and altered; faith is -weakened, and an opening made for change in -belief, practice, and morals. A change, merely as -such, is considered as a corruption by the adherents -of the old creed. Finally, revolutions, interior and -exterior, deteriorate or destroy religion and civilisation.</p> - -<p>These reflexions, with the explanation previously -given as to the various notions of which the religions -in Asia were composed, will clearly show that, in the -course of ages, a reform of astrolatry, pyrolatry, and -idolatry, the branches of Sabæism and Mezdaism, became -desirable; and <span class="person">Zardusht</span>, or <span class="person">Zoroaster</span>, appeared.</p> - -<p>In the notes placed at the bottom of the pages -containing Mohsan Fani’s account of Zoroaster,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_98" id="fnanchor_98"></a><a href="#footnote_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a></span> -will be found some of the principal results of the -investigations which have been made in Europe -respecting this legislator. The name of Zoroaster -was applied by some to the founder of Magism, or -Sabæism; we know also, that he has been identified -with many other prophets under different names, -among whom is <span class="person">Abraham</span>, called “the great Zardusht,” -and <span class="person">Hom</span>, of so extensive a celebrity, that -his name is mentioned by Strabo as predecessor of -Zoroaster. No wonder that the name of the latter -occurs in more or less remote times. According to -<a name="Page_lxxxvi" id="Page_lxxxvi"></a><span class="pageno">lxxxvi</span> -the Dabistán, he was born in Rai, a town in the -province of Jebal, or Irak Ajem, the country of the -ancient Parthians, and appeared as a reformer of -religion, under the reign of <span class="person">Gushtasp</span>, the fifth king -of the Kayanian dynasty, by the Occidental historians -generally identified with <span class="person">Darius Hystaspes</span>. -Although variously stated, this period is less subject -to chronological difficulties than are many others; -for, as Eastern and Western historians agree in the -epoch of Alexander’s death (321 B. C.), we may from -this, as from a fixed point, remount upwards to -Gushtasp; we find, according to some Orientals, five -reigns in 228 years,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_99" id="fnanchor_99"></a><a href="#footnote_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a></span> and therefore that of the said -king, beginning 549 years before our era, whilst, -according to the Occidentals, there are ten reigns -within 200 years, from Alexander’s conquest of -Persia to Darius Hystaspes, whose reign commences -in 521 A. D. The discrepancy of twenty-eight years -is far from being unexampled, even in more known -periods, and may in this case be most easily and -plausibly adjusted.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_100" id="fnanchor_100"></a><a href="#footnote_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a></span></p> - -<p><a name="Page_lxxxvii" id="Page_lxxxvii"></a><span class="pageno">lxxxvii</span> -According to a wide-spread tradition, to which I -shall have occasion to return, Gushtasp was instructed -by Brahmans; pursuant to the Dabistán, -his brother Jamasp was the pupil of the Indian -<span class="person">Jangran-ghachah</span> (Sankara acharya)<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_101" id="fnanchor_101"></a><a href="#footnote_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a></span>. This sage, as -soon as he heard of Gushtasp’s listening to Zoroaster, -wrote an epistle to dissuade the king from the -adoption of the new creed; an interview took place -at Balkh between the Persian and Indian sages, and -the latter abandoned his religion upon hearing a -<dfn>nosk</dfn>, or chapter of the <span class="title">Zand-Avesta</span>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_102" id="fnanchor_102"></a><a href="#footnote_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a></span> This is the -name of the work attributed to Zoroaster himself, a -part of which was brought to Europe, in the year -1761, by Anquetil du Perron.</p> - -<p><a name="Page_lxxxviii" id="Page_lxxxviii"></a><span class="pageno">lxxxviii</span> -The author of the Dabistán mentions the Zand-Avesta, -and declares the <span class="title">Mah-Zand</span> to be a portion -of the Desátir, and the Zand books in general conformable -to the Mahabadian code. The fifth Sassan, -the translator and commentator of the Desátir, in a -passage above-quoted,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_103" id="fnanchor_103"></a><a href="#footnote_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a></span> joins this work to the Avesta, -and is said in the Dabistán to have made a translation -of the code of Zardusht.</p> - -<p>Great was the sensation caused among the learned -of Europe at the first appearance of the works attributed -to Zoroaster, published in French by Anquetil -du Perron, in 1771. In a note of this volume<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_104" id="fnanchor_104"></a><a href="#footnote_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a></span> -will be found the names of the principal authors -who declared themselves for or against the authenticity -of the Zoroastrian books. Among those who -combated it, sir William Jones was most conspicuous. -Seventy years have since elapsed, and a learned controversy -may now be considered as settled, nay, -entirely forgotten, in the course of a most eventful -historical period. Nevertheless, the Desátir is so -closely connected with the Zand-Avesta, that so -much having been said of the one, the other should -not be lightly discarded. The value and importance -of the Dabistán rest chiefly upon the support -of the two documents mentioned; on that account -I may hope to be pardoned if I here venture to repeat -<a name="Page_lxxxix" id="Page_lxxxix"></a><span class="pageno">lxxxix</span> -whatever facts and arguments appear to me -to have some bearing upon this work. But it was -sir William Jones who then roused the whole -learned public into lively attention, and, I dare presume, -that the subject may by itself at all times -excite considerable interest.</p> - -<p>I shall quote the very words of lord Teignmouth -concerning the French author before mentioned:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_105" id="fnanchor_105"></a><a href="#footnote_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a></span> -“Anquetil had published in three quarto volumes -an account of his travels in India, the life of Zoroaster, -and some supposed works of that philosopher. -To this publication he prefixed a Discourse, -in which he treated the university of Oxford, and -some of its learned members and friends of Mr. -Jones, with ridicule and disrespect. From the -perusal of his works, Mr. Jones was little disposed -to agree with Monsieur du Perron in the -boasted importance of his communication; he was -disgusted with his vanity and petulance, and particularly -offended by his illiberal attack upon the -university, which he respected, and upon the -persons whom he esteemed and admired. The -letter which he addressed to M. du Perron was -anonymous; it was written with great force, and -expresses his indignation and contempt with a -<a name="Page_xc" id="Page_xc"></a><span class="pageno">xc</span> -degree of asperity which the judgment of maturer -years would have disapproved.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_106" id="fnanchor_106"></a><a href="#footnote_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a></span></p> - -<p>The letter alluded to contains most severe remarks, -not only upon the Zand-Avesta, but also -upon Oriental studies in general: these are blows -so much more sensible to Orientalists, as they come -from a friendly and most revered hand. Such was -the ardor of a susceptible mind under the impression -of having to vindicate the honor of his friends, -that he forgot for a moment the wreath which he -had already won in the career of Oriental literature; -he had already composed his commentary upon -Asiatic poetry, and translated from the original Persian -the Life of Nadir-shah; he had then no presentiment -of the glory which he was destined to acquire -by collecting, under the Indian heaven, the lore of -antique Asia. As his French letter, written in a -very spirited and brilliant style, can never be read -without causing a great impression, I shall be permitted -to borrow from the writings of this celebrated -author himself some reflexions, which I think -necessary for placing in a right point of view Oriental -studies in general, and in particular the contents -of the Dabistán, inasmuch as these are in some parts -founded upon the Zand-Avesta, and in other points -of a nature similar to that so much ridiculed in -that ingenious satire.</p> - -<p><a name="Page_xci" id="Page_xci"></a><span class="pageno">xci</span> -If it were true, that Anquetil was wrong “to -affront death for procuring us useless lights—if -the writings of Zoroaster are a collection of galimatia—if -enlightened Europe had no need of his -Zand-Avesta, which he has translated to no purpose, -and upon which he uselessly spent eighteen -years, a time which ought to have been precious -to him——”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_107" id="fnanchor_107"></a><a href="#footnote_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a></span> then any similar attempts which -have been or shall be made to procure, in Asia, and -to publish ancient historical documents, are equally -ridiculous and blamable. It is certainly not the -founder of a new era in Oriental literature whom we -hear in these words. Nobody knew better than he -that, in Asia, the cradle of mankind, we must search -for the most ancient documents to restore the lost -history of mankind; and if all endeavors were to -prove vain and useless, still the merit of having -attempted the attainment of a most laudable purpose -would remain. It is not unimportant to fix -the limits which researches can reach, and beyond -which nothing is to be gained; men are benefitted -and enriched at once by the saving of time and -trouble which preceding attempts teach; and by all -the acquisitions which better directions render -possible in a new and more profitable career. -Should the bold navigators who strive to arrive at -the pole never attain their aim, still would their -<a name="Page_xcii" id="Page_xcii"></a><span class="pageno">xcii</span> -endeavors be worthy of praise; the smallest fragment -of a rock, the slightest shoot of a plant, -plucked off in the desert of eternal ice, in latitude -eighty-eight, would at home be regarded with lively -interest, and navigation have not a little gained in -aid of other more fortunate undertakings.</p> - -<p>But, who can like to read “puerile details, disgusting -descriptions, barbarous words—Zoroaster -could not have written such nonsense—either -he had no common sense, or he wrote not the -book which Anquetil attributed to him.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_108" id="fnanchor_108"></a><a href="#footnote_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a></span></p> - -<p>As much has been and may be said of the books -attributed to other Asiatic legislators, who were -nevertheless revered as sacred during many ages by -numerous nations. Until we properly understand -the ignorance and habitual ideas of Asiatics, we -shall always remain ignorant of what is proverbially -called <span class="title">the wisdom of the East</span>. To appreciate -the just value of the ancient codes of laws, we ought -to represent to ourselves the primitive children of -the earth, as Prometheus describes them:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“They saw, indeed, they heard; but what avail’d</div> - <div class="i0">Or sight, or sense of hearing, all things rolling,</div> - <div class="i0">Like the unreal imagery of dreams,</div> - <div class="i0">In wild confusion mix’d! The lightsome wall</div> - <div class="i0">Of finer masonry, the rafter’d roof</div> - <div class="i0">They knew not; but, like ants still buried, delved</div> - <div class="i0">Deep in the earth, and scoop’d their sunless caves.</div> -<a name="Page_xciii" id="Page_xciii"></a><span class="pageno">xciii</span> - <div class="i0">Unmark’d the seasons chang’d, the biting winter,</div> - <div class="i0">The flow’r-perfumed spring, the ripening summer,</div> - <div class="i0">Fertile of fruits.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_109" id="fnanchor_109"></a><a href="#footnote_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a></span></div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>It will then be felt how important it was to break -the savage under the yoke of seemingly puerile -practices and customs. In a state which was not -unaptly called “the infancy of man,” it was by no -means absurd to ensure health by dietetical prescriptions, -cleanliness by obligatory ablutions, and -decency with convenience by a regulated dress; the -<dfn>koshti</dfn>, “the girdle,” of Zoroaster was then not so -unmeaning as it now appears to us. It was necessary -to educate the moral sense by appropriate -images, and to occupy conveniently, by fables, symbols, -and mythical accounts, the first active faculty -of the soul, imagination. Although those men who, -as legislators, were elevated above their barbarous -age, could in many points but partake in the general -imbecility and ignorance of an infant state -of society, they have nevertheless, among seemingly -childish and absurd precepts, promulgated most -luminous truths, better than which none have -hitherto been known, even at the most advanced -degree of civilisation. Any information above the -common understanding of the age is justly called -“a revelation,” and every nation has received some -<a name="Page_xciv" id="Page_xciv"></a><span class="pageno">xciv</span> -from their prophets, by which we have all benefited.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_110" id="fnanchor_110"></a><a href="#footnote_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a></span> -We, the youngest sons of science, ought to keep a -grateful and reverential remembrance of our elder -brothers. Let it be a subject of regret that, by the -maintenance of ancient institutions much longer -than was required for their intended purpose, the -intellectual growth of many Asiatic nations was -stopped; thus they now appear made for their laws, -whilst their laws were once made for them. After -these and similar reflexions, we shall view Zoroaster’s -hundred gates, and the remains of his twenty-one -nosks, as venerable monuments of an antique -civilisation, which ought never to be profaned by -derision.</p> - -<p>Upon the Zand language, in which Zoroaster’s -laws were written, I refer to the great philologers -of our days, who have examined it—Rask,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_111" id="fnanchor_111"></a><a href="#footnote_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a></span> Bopp, -Burnouf, Lassen, and others: it is one of the most -important conquests made in archæology and philology, -and this we owe to Anquetil. When -<a name="Page_xcv" id="Page_xcv"></a><span class="pageno">xcv</span> -Jones<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_112" id="fnanchor_112"></a><a href="#footnote_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a></span> treated with such severity the publication of -this French author, he could not foresee that he -should one day call forth to notoriety the Dabistán, -which rests in great part upon the authority of -the Desátir, and these very books to which he refused -all authenticity. Mohsan Fani, one hundred -and twenty years before Anquetil, derived his information -probably from other copies of Zoroaster’s -works, and knew nothing of Western authors, yet -his statements agree with what the latter, before -and after our era related, and most particularly -with what the French discoverer published of that -ancient philosopher. Can it be supposed that all -these men of different nations, whose statements have -thus coincided during the lapse of more than two -thousand years, have “imposed upon themselves, -or been imposed upon by others concerning the -pretended laws of a pretended legislator?” Anquetil -deserved a better name than that of “a -French adventurer, who translated the books ascribed -to Zoroaster, from the translation of a certain -<a name="Page_xcvi" id="Page_xcvi"></a><span class="pageno">xcvi</span> -gypsy at Surat, and his boldness in sending -them abroad as genuine”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_113" id="fnanchor_113"></a><a href="#footnote_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a></span> was not unsupported -by judgment. If there was some folly and foppery -to deride in a young man, who spoke of his <cite>lilly-rosy -cheeks and elegant figure</cite>, there was no “<em>imposture</em>” -to detect, and too much acerbity shewn in retorting -thoughtless indiscretions, exaggerated into “<em>invectives</em>.”</p> - -<p>Sir William Jones, when he published the strictures -which his antagonist, from pride or moderation, -never answered, was but in his twenty-fourth -year and under the influence of youthful ardor. -Eighteen years after, in a discourse, addressed to -the Asiatic Society of Calcutta, in 1789, he spoke -with more moderation of Anquetil as “having had -the merit of undertaking a voyage to India in his -earliest youth with no other view than to recover -the writings of Zoroaster.” The illustrious president -of that Society was not in the position to appreciate -Anquetil’s whole character, and died too soon -to become acquainted with the brilliant reputation -which the youthful voyager acquired in his maturer -years as a learned member of the French Academy -of Letters, both in his own country and abroad.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_114" id="fnanchor_114"></a><a href="#footnote_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a></span></p> - -<p><a name="Page_xcvii" id="Page_xcvii"></a><span class="pageno">xcvii</span> -The Dabistán informs us, that the Zand-books are -of two kinds: the one, perspicuous and without -enigmatical forms of speech, is called the <span class="title">Mah-Zand</span>, -“great Zand;” the second, abounding in enigmatic -or figurative language, is entitled <span class="title">Kah-Zand</span>, “little -Zand.” The first, in most points speculative and -practical, agrees with the Desátir; the second is intended -to prevent philosophy falling into the hands -of the ignorant, to whom an enigmatical veil is -offered, whilst the sages know the true purport of -the pure doctrine. To king Gushtasp, his brother -Jamasp, his son Isfendiar, and to Bahman, the son -of the latter, were attributed the interpretations of -Zoroaster’s religious system, and many ingenious -<a name="Page_xcviii" id="Page_xcviii"></a><span class="pageno">xcviii</span> -parables which, for their moral sense, may be reckoned -among the best specimens of this kind of popular -instruction.</p> - -<p>This true statement, contained in the Dabistan,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_115" id="fnanchor_115"></a><a href="#footnote_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a></span> -corrects the assertion of sir William Jones,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_116" id="fnanchor_116"></a><a href="#footnote_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a></span> that -Mohsan Fani affirms “the work of Zartusht to -“have been lost.” The learned Orientalist evidently -confounds the <span class="title">Mah-zand</span>, which is said to -be a portion of the Desátir, with the work of Zartusht. -The writer of the Dabistán enumerates<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_117" id="fnanchor_117"></a><a href="#footnote_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a></span> the -twenty-one <dfn>nosks</dfn> or books, of which the Zand was -composed; he says:<span class="lock"><a href="#footnote_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a></span> “At present there are fourteen -complete nosks, possessed by the Dosturs of -Karman; the other seven being incomplete, as, -through the wars and dissensions which prevailed -in Iran some of the nosks have disappeared, so -that, notwithstanding the greatest researches, the -nosks have come into their hands in a defective -state.” We find it expressly declared in the Dabistán, -on the authority<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_118" id="fnanchor_118"></a><a href="#footnote_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a></span> of the Dostur who wrote -the volume of the <span class="title">Sad dur</span>, “the hundred gates,” -that “the excellent faith has been received from the -prophet Zartusht.” In a particular section, intitled -<cite>Enumeration of some advantages which arise from the enigmatical</cite> -<a name="Page_xcix" id="Page_xcix"></a><span class="pageno">xcix</span> -<cite>forms of the precepts of Zartusht’s followers</cite>, Mohsan -not only adduces examples of Zartushtian allegories, -but subjoins his own interpretations of them; yet -he never <em>affirms</em>, nor even insinuates “the place of -Zoroaster’s lost works to have been supplied by a -recent compilation.” Nor can we assent to the -view, which sir W. Jones takes of the modern literature -of the Mobeds, “for whom,” he says,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_119" id="fnanchor_119"></a><a href="#footnote_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a></span> “as -they continued to profess among themselves the -religion of their forefathers, it became expedient -to supply the last or mutilated works of -their legislator by new compositions, partly from -their imperfect recollection, and partly from such -moral and religious knowledge as they gleaned, -most probably among the Christians with whom -they had an intercourse.”</p> - -<p>To settle our judgment upon this subject, we -ought to recollect, that languages and precepts may -be transmitted from generation to generation by -oral instruction, which indeed was once the only -possible mode during a long period of time. It was -then that memory was so much stronger, as, destitute -of all artificial assistance, it depended solely -upon itself. We bought the advantage of writing -by resigning somewhat of memorial energy; this -was the evil, which, according to Plato, Thamus, the -<a name="Page_c" id="Page_c"></a><span class="pageno">c</span> -Egyptian king, predicted to Theut, the inventor of -writing. However this may be, it will appear founded -upon reason and history, that religious creeds, which -had once been the property of nations, are not easily -eradicated by any force, or forgotten under any circumstances; -they become living streams of ideas -and sentiments, which run uninterruptedly through -the ever-renewed races of man, even when these separate -from a parent stock. Hence we find, in -countries and among nations the most remote -from each other, so many notions and customs, the -origin of which is lost in the night of time. Shall -I mention the Jews, who, throughout the whole -world, repeat to-day the same words which they -learned more than thirty-three centuries ago? -With regard to the Guebres—sir W. Jones might -have safely granted a little more confidence to his -friend Bahman, his Persian reader, who always -named with reverence Zartusht, whose religion he -professed, in common with many so called Guebres. -For these it was not necessary “to preserve -Zoroastrian books, in sheets of lead or copper, -at the bottom of wells near Yezd:”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_120" id="fnanchor_120"></a><a href="#footnote_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a></span> this fact, -<a name="Page_ci" id="Page_ci"></a><span class="pageno">ci</span> -which Bahman used to assert, shows the particular -care which had once been taken to guard these -sacred documents, the veneration for which most -naturally prevented any falsification of their known -contents.</p> - -<p>We are confirmed, by the author of the Dabistán, -that Zoroaster did not change the fundamentals of -the ancient religion; only the dualism of the principles, -good and bad, not existing, as I have remarked<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_121" id="fnanchor_121"></a><a href="#footnote_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a></span> -in the Mahabadian religion, was either then -first introduced, or only further developed; besides, -we see the cycle of 12,000 years fixed, and divided into -four periods of 3000 years each; we hear the promise -of a Saviour to restore the empire of God promulgated, -and the destruction of the world by fire -announced: this is at the same time the epoch of -the general resurrection, which is one of the most -remarkable dogmas of the Zoroastrian religion.</p> - -<p>Although this be not destitute of religious observances, -yet we find scarce any painful austerity recommended. -The twenty-fifth gate of Zoroaster -contains the remarkable precept: “Know that in -thy faith there is no fasting except that of avoiding -sin: in which sense thou must fast the whole -year.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_122" id="fnanchor_122"></a><a href="#footnote_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a></span> The ancient Mahabadian religion, although -adulterated before, during, and after Zoroaster’s -<a name="Page_cii" id="Page_cii"></a><span class="pageno">cii</span> -life, seems to have never lost its grave character -and solemnity. In the Zand-books known -to us, no trace of temples, altars, or religious symbols -exist. Herodotus knew of none; the fire-places -were upon a desert place, or upon mountains; the -fire upon the ground. Upon the Persian monuments -which time has spared, upon the walls of the -thousand-pillared palace of Isfahan, and upon those -of the Royal tombs we see no idols, but priests and -kings, performing the sacrifice of fire before their -<em>fervers</em>, “ideals of virtue and sanctity,” and other -actions rather of a political than religious character. -The pyræa, round and concave, represented the -vault of heaven. Nevertheles other accounts permit -us to believe, that, by association with other -nations; most likely by the introduction of sculpture, -architecture, and painting; and, as the Dabistán -expressly says, by the use of symbolical language: -a superstitious worship of sacred places -and symbolic images gained a great ascendancy.</p> - -<p>This religion prevailed during the times of the -Kayanian kings from Gushtasp to Dara the Second, -during more than two centuries. After the conquest -of Persia by Alexander, a political and religious -revolution took place in this country, and extended -to Greece, where, according to the commentary -of the Desátir, the creed of the <span class="title">Gushaspians</span> was -introduced. This is declared to be a medium between -<a name="Page_ciii" id="Page_ciii"></a><span class="pageno">ciii</span> -the <em>Illuminated</em> and the <em>Rationalists</em>, perhaps -the same which the Dabistán calls the faith of the -<dfn>Beh-dinians</dfn>, “professors of the better religion.” So -much is avowed by Philo, Plinius, and others—and -we have reason to lay stress upon this avowal—that -at one time the so called barbarians were reckoned -to be more wise and virtuous than the Greeks. -During the Ashkanian dynasty (from the third century -B. C. to the end of the second after our era), -the people conformed to the <span class="title">Kah-zand</span>, that is, -yielded to the superstition, which the figurative language -was apt to suggest. Ardeshir, the first Sassanian, -in the beginning of the third century A. D.; -endeavored to re-establish the ancient religion; but, -after his reign of forty years, the Kah-zand took -and kept the ascendancy, until the Persian empire -fell before the overwhelming power of the Muhammedans. -The Mah-zand was lost during the domination -of the intolerant invaders, Greeks, Arabs, -and Turks; the Kah-zand still remains in some of -its parts, whilst many others were lost in the successive -disorders of the state.</p> - -<p>The fifteenth and last section of the first chapter -treats of <span class="person">Mazdak</span>, who lived in the fifth century of -our era. We are informed of the existence of a -book, called <span class="title">Desnak</span>, which the author of the Dabistán -saw, and which contains the doctrine of this -reformer. This was nothing else than the Zoroastrian -<a name="Page_civ" id="Page_civ"></a><span class="pageno">civ</span> -system about the two principles, <dfn>Yezed</dfn>, “God” -or “light,” and <dfn>Ahriman</dfn>, “agent of evil” or “darkness,” -with a few peculiarities which did not -destroy the fundamental principles of the original -religion. But, it was the ethical part of his doctrine -which at first caused a great revolution, and at last -the destruction of the teacher and his numerous -disciples, Mazdak bade all men to be partners in -riches and women, just as they are of fire, water, -and grass; private property was not to exist; each -man to enjoy or to endure, in his turn, the good and -bad lots of this world. To this strange doctrine -may be perhaps applied the saying of a great bishop -(Bossuet): that “every error is but an abuse of -some truth.” To prevent an excessive inequality -of fortunes in society was the object towards -which celebrated ancient legislators tended, and for -which frequently wishes were expressed, reforms -projected, and politico-philosophical romances<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_123" id="fnanchor_123"></a><a href="#footnote_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a></span> composed -by well-meaning and respectable persons. -It is therefore to a natural, but dangerous propensity -of the human mind, that we ought to refer -Mazdak’s bold and for some time too successful attempt, -as well as all the doctrines of the same tendency, -which before and after him were and will -henceforth be proposed.</p> - -<p><a name="Page_cv" id="Page_cv"></a><span class="pageno">cv</span> -I have now terminated the general review of what -the first chapter of the Dabistán, and the first volume -of the English translation contain, concerning -the most ancient dynasties, religions, and political -institutions of Persia.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_97" id="footnote_97"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_97"><span class="muchsmaller">[97]</span></a> - See page <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_98" id="footnote_98"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_98"><span class="muchsmaller">[98]</span></a> - See <abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> <a href="#Page_211">211</a> <span class="decoration">et seq.</span></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_99" id="footnote_99"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_99"><span class="muchsmaller">[99]</span></a> - See sir John Malcolm’s History of Persia. Ferdusi counts 304 years -from Alexander’s death to the beginning of Gushtasp’s reign; but he -assigns to the latter 120, and 112 to that of his successor <span class="person">Bahman Arjer</span>, -or <span class="person">Ardishir diraz</span> (Artaxerxes longimanus). These two reigns might -have comprised those of several others not mentioned by Ferdusi.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_100" id="footnote_100"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_100"><span class="muchsmaller">[100]</span></a> - The duration of the whole Kayanian dynasty is stated by the Orientals -(see <abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 31, <a href="#footnote_251">note 1</a> of this work) to be 704 years in 10 reigns; -according to Occidental historians, it is only 380 years in 18 reigns. The -first statement is evidently erroneous as to the small number of kings, -but it is not decided that it is equally so as to the duration of the whole -dynasty. The error is more likely to be in the list of the kings than in -the whole period of their reigns. May I be permitted to refer to my -discussion upon the chronology of the <span class="title">Rajatarangini</span> (<abbr title="volume two page">vol. II. p.</abbr> 387)?</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_101" id="footnote_101"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_101"><span class="muchsmaller">[101]</span></a> - Sir William Jones says (Works, <abbr title="volume Three page">vol. III. p.</abbr> 128): “It was he (Zoroaster)—not -as Ammianus asserts, his protector, Gushtasp—who travelled -in India, that he might receive information from the Brahmans in -theology and ethics.” This is not to be found in the edition of Calcutta, -nor in the manuscript of the Dabistán which D. Shea and myself have seen.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_102" id="footnote_102"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_102"><span class="muchsmaller">[102]</span></a> - Mr. Eugène Burnouf, when he communicated to me his opinion upon -the derivation of the word <dfn>Wasátir</dfn> (see <a href="#Page_xxii">p. xxii</a>), adverted incidentally -to that of the term <span class="title">Zand-Avesta</span>, interpreted sometimes “the <span class="title">Zand</span> and -the <span class="title">Usta</span>,” and said, that these words are found in perhaps a single -passage of the books of Zoroaster, to wit, <span class="trans">huzanth vacha vaidhya cha</span>. -These two words are applied to <dfn>mantras</dfn> (prayers), and seem to signify -“which will give life,” or “which are salutary to towns and nations,” -and “which are learned.” We recognise the Sanscrit <span class="trans">sujantu</span> and -<span class="trans">vidya</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_103" id="footnote_103"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_103"><span class="muchsmaller">[103]</span></a> - See <a href="#Page_66">page 66</a>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_104" id="footnote_104"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_104"><span class="muchsmaller">[104]</span></a> - See <abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_105" id="footnote_105"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_105"><span class="muchsmaller">[105]</span></a> - See Memoirs of the life, writings, and correspondence of sir W. Jones, -in his Works, <abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 190, <abbr title="octavo, editon">8vo., ed.</abbr>, 1807.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_106" id="footnote_106"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_106"><span class="muchsmaller">[106]</span></a> - See works of sir W. J. <abbr title="volume Ten page">vol. X. p.</abbr> 403 <span class="decoration">et seq.</span></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_107" id="footnote_107"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_107"><span class="muchsmaller">[107]</span></a> - See Works of Sir W. J., <abbr title="volume Ten page">vol. X. p.</abbr> 403 <span class="decoration">et seq.</span></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_108" id="footnote_108"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_108"><span class="muchsmaller">[108]</span></a> - See works of sir W. J. <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 413. 432. 437.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_109" id="footnote_109"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_109"><span class="muchsmaller">[109]</span></a> - De Potter’s <abbr title="translation">Transl.</abbr> of Æschylus, Prometheus chained. In the Greek -origin. <abbr title="verses">v.</abbr> 447-456.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_110" id="footnote_110"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_110"><span class="muchsmaller">[110]</span></a> - Voltaire, whose genius sir W. Jones knew how to appreciate, said: -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Glorifions-nous de ce que les vérités les plus importantes sont devenues -des lieux communs pour les Européens, mais ne nous en moquons -pas, et sachons avoir quelque reconnaissance pour les anciens legislateurs -qui nous les ont, les premiers, appris.”</span></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_111" id="footnote_111"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_111"><span class="muchsmaller">[111]</span></a> - See <abbr title="Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland"> Transact. of the R. A. S. of Great Brit. and Irel.</abbr>, <abbr title="volume three part one page">vol. III. part I. -p.</abbr> 524 <span class="decoration">et seq.</span> <cite>Remarks on the Zand language and the Zand-Avesta.</cite> -This able tract is chiefly a comment upon Erskine’s Memoir <cite>On the sacred -book and religion of the Parsis</cite>, in the <abbr title="Transactions of the Literary Society">Transact. of the Lit. Soc.</abbr> of -Bombay, <abbr title="volume two page">vol. II. p.</abbr> 295.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_112" id="footnote_112"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_112"><span class="muchsmaller">[112]</span></a> - Sir W. J. says (see his Works, <abbr title="volume Three page">vol. III. p.</abbr> 116) that, according to -his conviction, the dialect of the Guebrs, which they pretend to be that -of Zertusht, of which Bahman, a Guebr and his Persian reader, gave him -a variety of written specimens, is a late invention of their priests. What -language does he mean? certainly not that of the Zand-Avesta, of which -he speaks in particular, and states (<cite>ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 118) “the language of the -Zand was at least a dialect of the Sanscrit, approaching, perhaps, as -nearly to it as the Prácrit, or other popular idioms, which we know to -have been spoken in India two thousand years ago.”</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_113" id="footnote_113"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_113"><span class="muchsmaller">[113]</span></a> - Sir W. J.’s Works, <abbr title="volume Five pages">vol. V. pp.</abbr> 414-415.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_114" id="footnote_114"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_114"><span class="muchsmaller">[114]</span></a> - Anquetil composed a number of Memoirs, read to the French Institut -and preserved in their printed records. He published, in 1771, three -quarto volumes upon his voyages to, in, and from India, and the Works -of Zoroaster; in 1798, <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">L’Inde en rapport avec l’Europe; in 1799, La -Legislation orientale, ou le despotisme considéré dans la Turquie, la -Perse et l’Indostane</cite>. An epistle which he placed before his Latin translation -of <cite>Dara Shuko’s Persian Upanishad</cite>, and addressed to the Brahmans -of India, contained, as it were, his religious and political testament. He -declares his nourishment to have been reduced, like that of an abstemious -ascetic, living, even in winter, without fire; and sleeping in a bed without -feathers or sheets. His juvenile boast of “personal beauty” was expiated -by total neglect of his body, left “with linen unchanged and unwashed;” -his aspirations to “a vast extent of learning” had subsided into patient -and most persevering studies. But, disdaining to accept gifts and pensions, -even from government, he preserved his absolute liberty, and -blessed his poverty, “as the salvation of his soul and body, the rampart -of morality and of religion; a friend of all men; victorious over the -allurements of the world” he tended towards the Supreme Being. -Well may virtues so rare efface other human failings of Anquetil du -Perron. He died, in his seventy-fourth year, in 1805.—(See <cite>Histoire et -Mémoires de l’Institut royal de France. Classe d’Histoire et de Littérature -anciennes</cite>, tome <abbr title="Three">III.</abbr> 1818.)</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_115" id="footnote_115"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_115"><span class="muchsmaller">[115]</span></a> - See <abbr title="Translation, volume one pages">Transl., vol. I. pp.</abbr> <a href="#Page_351">351-353</a>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_116" id="footnote_116"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_116"><span class="muchsmaller">[116]</span></a> - Works, <abbr title="volume Three page">vol. III. p.</abbr> 115.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_117" id="footnote_117"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_117"><span class="muchsmaller">[117]</span></a> - <abbr title="Translation volume One page">Transl. vol. I. p.</abbr> <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_118" id="footnote_118"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_118"><span class="muchsmaller">[118]</span></a> - <cite>Ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> <a href="#Page_310">310</a>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_119" id="footnote_119"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_119"><span class="muchsmaller">[119]</span></a> - <cite>Loco cit.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_120" id="footnote_120"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_120"><span class="muchsmaller">[120]</span></a> - Yezd, in central Persia, is the ancient Isatichæ of Ptolemy. It is -celebrated on account of the fire-worship of <span class="title">Yezdan</span> (or Ormuzd, as light), -there practised, and as the last asylum of the adherents to Zoroaster’s -religion, who fled before the Muhammedans. From thence the fire-worshippers -sought a refuge in India, and settled in Diu, Bombay, and in -the higher valleys of the Indus and the Ganges.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_121" id="footnote_121"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_121"><span class="muchsmaller">[121]</span></a> - See <abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_122" id="footnote_122"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_122"><span class="muchsmaller">[122]</span></a> - See <abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> <a href="#Page_321">321</a>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_123" id="footnote_123"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_123"><span class="muchsmaller">[123]</span></a> - For instance, the <cite>Utopia</cite> of Thomas Moore, the <cite>Oceana</cite> of Harrington, -the <cite>Leviathan</cite> of Hobbes, etc., etc.</p> - -<p class="p2 center"><abbr title="Section Four">§ IV.</abbr>—<span class="sc">The Religion of the Hindus.</span></p> - -<p>The theatre upon which the author of the Dabistán -begins history from the remotest times, is -Persia, without limitation of its extent, probably -including Chaldæa. From thence he passes to India, -he says little of any other country; nothing at -all of Egypt. The delta of this most fertile land, -as an alluvial formation of the great river Nile, was -necessarily posterior to the existence of inland regions; -still its claims to antiquity are very high and -not unsupported, to a certain extent, by the best -written testimonies and architectural monuments. -If I here refer in a cursory manner to its eras,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_124" id="fnanchor_124"></a><a href="#footnote_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a></span> it is -to strengthen what was above remarked concerning -the general belief of the great age of the world. The -ancient religion of Egypt, although connected and -<a name="Page_cvi" id="Page_cvi"></a><span class="pageno">cvi</span> -conformable in many points with other Asiatic religions, -is never alluded to by the author of the Dabistán, -probably because in his time the Egyptians -had lost even the memory of their ancient history, -which very little attracted the curiosity of their -masters, the Muhammedans, except perhaps by the -medium of the Bible of the Jews, often quoted in -their Koran.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_125" id="fnanchor_125"></a><a href="#footnote_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a></span></p> - -<p>I cannot here omit briefly noticing the various opinions -of several learned men concerning the comparative -antiquity of the Magi, the Egyptian priests, -and the Hindu philosophers. Aristotle<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_126" id="fnanchor_126"></a><a href="#footnote_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a></span> believed -the Magi more ancient than the Egyptians; Diodorus -of Sicily<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_127" id="fnanchor_127"></a><a href="#footnote_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a></span> believed the Hindus to have never -sent nor received colonies, and invented every art -and science; Lucian, Philostratus<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_128" id="fnanchor_128"></a><a href="#footnote_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a></span>, -and Eusebius<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_129" id="fnanchor_129"></a><a href="#footnote_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a></span> -granted anteriority in philosophy to the Hindus -over the Egyptians. In our times the learned abbé -Mignot established in three Memoirs<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_130" id="fnanchor_130"></a><a href="#footnote_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a></span>, that the Hindus -<a name="Page_cvii" id="Page_cvii"></a><span class="pageno">cvii</span> -owed nothing to the Egyptians, and traced the -true communications of the former with several nations -of Asia and Europe. But sir W. Jones declared -in 1785<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_131" id="fnanchor_131"></a><a href="#footnote_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a></span>, as not ill-grounded, the opinion -that Ethiopia and Hindostan were peopled or colonized -by the same extraordinary race, or that the -Ethiopians of Meroe were the same people as the -Hindus. His opinion was reproduced under different -forms by Hennel, Wilford, Forbes, Carwithen, among -the English, and adopted by L. Langles among the -French. I need not dwell upon this opinion, as -the grounds upon which it rested are now considered -as entirely destroyed. Sir W. Jones himself -seems to have abandoned it in 1789,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_132" id="fnanchor_132"></a><a href="#footnote_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a></span> as the Dabistán -appeared to him to furnish an unexceptionable evidence, -that the Iranian monarchy must have been -the oldest in the world, although, he added, it will -remain dubious to which of the three stocks, Hindu, -Arabian, or Tartar, the first kings of Iran belonged; -or whether they sprang from a fourth race, distinct -from any of the others; He further states, that no -country but Persia seems likely to have sent forth -colonies to all the kingdoms of Asia, and that the -three races (Indians, Arabs, Tartars) migrated from -Iran as from their common country, “the true centre -of population, of knowledge, of languages, and -<a name="Page_cviii" id="Page_cviii"></a><span class="pageno">cviii</span> -of arts; which, instead of travelling westward -only, as it has been fancifully supposed, or eastward, -as might with equal reason have been asserted, -were expanded in all directions to all the -regions of the world, in which the Hindu race -had settled under various denominations.”</p> - -<p>The second chapter of the Dabistán describes, in -twelve sections, the religious systems and customs -of the Hindus. It is a detailed account, given by a -Persian who, as traveller and resident in India -during about thirty years, had the best opportunities -to collect right information; he shows himself -acquainted with the canonical books of this nation; -he quotes their Puránas, and other works less -known.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_133" id="fnanchor_133"></a><a href="#footnote_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a></span></p> - -<p>The Hindus are, among all nations, most particularly -distinguished by a decided turn for metaphysics, -which even tinctured the radicals of their -language; they have labored more than others to -solve, exhaust, comprehend, what is insolvible, -inexhaustible, incomprehensible. To give a general -notion of their metaphysical theology, I do not say -<a name="Page_cix" id="Page_cix"></a><span class="pageno">cix</span> -to render it intelligible, would require an extensive -treatise. We will now give a few characteristic -and leading features of their systems as indicated in -the Dabistán.</p> - -<p>Some of their theological philosophers made incredible -efforts to steer clear of anthropomorphism -in their conceptions of the Divinity: their Brahm, in -the neuter gender, has no symbol, nor image, nor -temple; they generally profess the great principle -of <em>emanation of all existences from a common but unknown -source</em>. God is the producer of the beginning -and end, exhibiting himself in the mirror of pure -space. Creation is held to have proceeded from -pure space and time. Other Hindu philosophers -establish: 1. a primary, subtile, universal substance, -undergoing modification through its own energy. -This they call <dfn>Mula Prakritti</dfn>, “rudimental nature,” -no production but the root of all, involving, 2. <em>seven -principles</em>, which are productions and productive -(that is, intellect, egotism, and five subtile elements); -from these seven proceed: 3. <em>sixteen productions</em> (to -wit, eleven organs and five gross elements); to these -just mentioned twenty-four (namely, Nature, seven -principles and sixteen productions); add, 4. <em>the soul</em>, -which is neither a production, nor productive, and -you have the <em>twenty-five physical and metaphysical categories</em> -of the Sankhya philosophy.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_134" id="fnanchor_134"></a><a href="#footnote_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a></span> This strikes us -<a name="Page_cx" id="Page_cx"></a><span class="pageno">cx</span> -as a very specious methodical arrangement of an -abstruse matter, which is not thereby in any degree -rendered more intelligible.</p> - -<p>We seem to understand something more when, as -in the Vedenta philosophy, it is said of the truly-existing -Being (God):<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_135" id="fnanchor_135"></a><a href="#footnote_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a></span> “that he has exhibited the -“world and the heavens in the field of existence, -but has nothing like an odor of being, nor taken a -color of reality; and this manifestation is called -<dfn>Máya</dfn> that is, ‘the Magic of God,’ because -the universe is his playful deceit, and he is -the bestower of imitative existence, himself the -unity of reality. With this pure substance, like -an imitative actor, he passes every moment into -another form. He, manifesting his being and -unity in three persons, separate from each other, -formed the universe. The connexion of the spirits -with the holy Being is like the connexion of -the billows with the ocean, or that of sparks with -fire.” This is pure idealism; but man will spontaneously -break through the shadowy illusion, and -grasp at some reality; the trinity of the Hindus became -<em>creation</em>, <em>preservation</em>, and <em>destruction</em> (or renovation), -the history of nature before their eyes.</p> - -<p>I shall here remark, without attempting to explain, -the striking contrast in the religion of the -same nation between the most subtile -metaphysic -<a name="Page_cxi" id="Page_cxi"></a><span class="pageno">cxi</span> -theology and the grossest idolatry. In the latter, the -symbolical representation prevails; it is known, -that in its immoderate use they have entirely abandoned -the normal proportions of the human form, -and by the multiplication of members banished all -fitness and beauty. Their plastic and graphic typification -of an all-mighty, all-bestowing, and all-resuming -God, with its three, four, five heads, so many and -more arms, is repulsive; in their poetry he frightens -us with innumerable mouths, eyes, breasts, -arms, and legs, grinding between his teeth the generations -of men, who precipitate themselves into -his mouth like rivers into the ocean, or flies into -fire.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_136" id="fnanchor_136"></a><a href="#footnote_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a></span></p> - -<p>The psychology of the Hindus is not less abstruse -than the rest of their metaphysics. We have already -mentioned the soul among the twenty-five categories -as neither a production nor productive. The -Indian philosophers distinguish spirit and soul, -that is, a rational soul and a mere sensitive principle. -The first is supposed enveloped with a -subtile, shadowy form of the most delicate material -ether. Some hold the soul to be incased in three -sheaths, the intellectual, the mental, and the organic -or vital sheath.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_137" id="fnanchor_137"></a><a href="#footnote_137" class="fnanchor">[137]</a></span> According to different views the -vital spirit is <dfn>Máya</dfn> herself, or an emanation of Máyá, -<a name="Page_cxii" id="Page_cxii"></a><span class="pageno">cxii</span> -in any case the illusive manifestation of the universe.</p> - -<p>This ingenuous conception seems to have taken -deep and complete possession of the Hindus; it dominates -in their most subtile abstractions, and embodies -itself in a thousand forms to their vivid and -luxuriant imagination. The <span class="title">Saktians</span>, a sect wedded -to sensual materialism, represent Máyá as a <dfn>Saktí</dfn> or -energy of Siva; she is “the mother of the universe;” -“non-entity finds no access to this creator, the -garment of perishableness does not sit right upon -the body of this fascinating empress; the dust of -nothingness does not move round the circle of -her dominion; the real beings and the accidental -creatures of the nether world are equally enamoured -and intoxicated with desire before her.” -Above the six circles, into which the Hindus divide -the human body, is “the window of life, and the -passage of the soul, which is the top and middle -of the head, and in that place is the <em>flower of the -back</em> of one thousand leaves: this is the residence -of the glorious divinity, that is, of the world-deceiving -queen, and in this beautiful site reposes -her origin. With the splendor of one hundred -thousand world-illuminating suns, she wears, at -the time of rising, manifold odoriferous herbs -and various flowers upon her head, and around -her neck: her resplendent body is penetrated -<a name="Page_cxiii" id="Page_cxiii"></a><span class="pageno">cxiii</span> -with perfumes of divers precious ingredients, -such as musk, safran, sandal, and amber, and -bedecked with magnificent garments; in this manner, -she is to be represented.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_138" id="fnanchor_138"></a><a href="#footnote_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a></span> Thus we see the -poetical imagination of the Hindus, playing, as it -were, with abstruseness, materializing what is spiritual, -and spiritualizing what is material.</p> - -<p>Characteristic of and peculiar to the Hindus, are -their conceptions relative to the states of the embodied -soul, which are chiefly three: “<dfn>waking</dfn>, <dfn>dreaming</dfn>, -and <dfn>profound sleep</dfn>.”<span class="lock"><a href="#footnote_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a></span> In these three conditions -the soul is imprisoned, but it may, by virtue -and sanctity, break the net of illusion, that is, acquire -the consciousness of the illusion which captivates -it, and know that, even when awake, man is -dreaming: this is the triumph of his perfection.</p> - -<p>Such, and other notions, in their development -and application, form a system of metaphysics, in -which excess and abuse of refined speculations lose -themselves in obscurity, contradiction, and absurdity.</p> - -<p>Among the Indian sectaries appear the <span class="title">Charvak</span>, -who, rejecting the popular religion, follow their own -system of philosophic opinions.</p> - -<p>Of <span class="title">Buddha</span> and the <span class="title">Buddhists</span>, we are disappointed -to find so little in the Dabistán, except the important -information that Vichnu, in order to destroy the demons -<a name="Page_cxiv" id="Page_cxiv"></a><span class="pageno">cxiv</span> -and evil genii, the agents of night, assumed the -avatár of Buddha when ten years only of the Dwaparyug -remained, that is, 3112 years before Christ. In -the section on the tenets held by the followers of -Buddha, these religionists are called <span class="title">Jatis</span> or <span class="title">Yatis</span>, a -great number of whom are corn-traders and get their -livelihood as servants; they are divided in several -classes, and do not believe the incarnations of the -deity; as to the rest, they have tenets and customs -in common with other Indian sects, only distinguishing -themselves by a great aversion to Brahmans, -and an extreme care of not hurting animal -life.</p> - -<p>In the whole account, which the Dabistán gives -of the various sects and doctrines of the Hindus, -we can but remark a frequent confusion of Indian -with Muhammedan notions and stories. Indeed, -this work having been written in India at a time -when, after a sojourn of more than seven centuries, -about twenty millions of Muselmans appeared, as it -were, lost in the midst of one hundred millions of -Hindus, we cannot wonder that a mutual assimilation -in opinions and customs took place among individuals -of both religions. A remarkable instance -of it presents itself in the person of <span class="person">Kabir</span>, renowned -in his time for sanctity. After his death, both the -Hindus and Muhammedans claimed his corpse for -funeral honors; monuments erected to him by each -<a name="Page_cxv" id="Page_cxv"></a><span class="pageno">cxv</span> -party exist in our days, with the proverbial precept -which originated from this event:</p> - -<p class="blockquote">“Live so as to be claimed after death to be burnt by Hindus, and to -be buried by Muslims.”</p> - -<p>The Indian Yogis, Sanyásis, and Vairagis are perpetually -confounded with Muhammedan Durvishes, -and Sufis, of whom hereafter.</p> - -<p>We do not fail to meet with many traces of the -ancient Persian astrolatry and pyrolatry among the -Indians. Mohsan mentions the <span class="title">Surya-makhan</span> (<span class="title">Sauras</span>), -“worshippers of the sun,” and periphrases, -as addressed to that luminary, a Sanscrit prayer, -which seems to be one of those called <span class="title">gayátri</span>, the -holiest verses of the Vedas, kept as mysterious by -the Brahmans, and pronounced with the deepest -sense of concentrated devotion. In our days, more -than one <span class="title">gayátri</span> has been made known.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_139" id="fnanchor_139"></a><a href="#footnote_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a></span> We cannot -doubt that (according to the poet)<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_140" id="fnanchor_140"></a><a href="#footnote_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a></span><span class="lock">—</span></p> - -<p class="blockquote">“That vast source of liquid light, the ethereal sun, which perpetually -laves heaven with ever-renewed brightness,”</p> - -<p class="unindent">was, from the remotest times, the object of adoration -in India. The Dabistán mentions also the -<span class="title">Chandra-bakhtra</span>, “worshippers of the moon.” -Even in our days we find the veneration for the -<a name="Page_cxvi" id="Page_cxvi"></a><span class="pageno">cxvi</span> -sun, the planets, and fire, openly practised by the -Hindus. The worshippers of the latter elements -called <span class="title">Sagníkas</span>, are very numerous at Benares;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_141" id="fnanchor_141"></a><a href="#footnote_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a></span> they -keep many <dfn>agni-hotras</dfn>, “burnt-offerings,” continually -blazing; they kindle, with two pieces of -sacred wood, called <dfn>sámi</dfn>, a fire, never extinguished -during their lives, for the performance of solemn -sacrifices, their nuptial ceremonies, the obsequies -of departed ancestors, and their own funeral pile. -There are besides particular worshippers of the -wind, water, earth, and the three kingdoms of nature. -The latter are called <span class="title">Tripujas</span>, “trinitarians.” -We find also <span class="title">Manushya-bhakta</span>, “worshippers -of mankind,” who recognise the being of -God in man, and believe nothing to be more perfect -than mankind; like <span class="person">Channing</span>, a famous American -preacher of our days. In short, the worship -of personified nature, in its utmost extent, is most -evident in what we know of the Vedas, and never -ceased to be the general religion of the Hindus.</p> - -<p>Not without interest will be read in the Dabistán -the account of <span class="person">Nanak</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_142" id="fnanchor_142"></a><a href="#footnote_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a></span> -the founder of the Sikh religion -and domination. He is there represented as -having been, in a former age, <span class="person">Janaka</span>, sovereign of -Mithila, and father of Sitá, the wife of Rama. The -revolution effected by Nanak, in the middle of the -<a name="Page_cxvii" id="Page_cxvii"></a><span class="pageno">cxvii</span> -sixteenth century, proves that the Hindus are not -quite so unchangeable in religion and customs as is -generally believed. It is however to be remarked, -that the Panj-ab, the country of the Sikhs, was -always considered by the Brahmans as the seat of -heterodoxy (probably Buddhism), and blamed for -irregularity of manners. Mohsan’s account will be -found to add confirmation and a few particulars to -that given of Nanak, from the best sources—the -generals sir John Malcolm, and John Briggs.</p> - -<p>What will appear most valuable in this work is -the description of various usages, some of which -have never been described elsewhere. The most -ancient customs are brought to recollection. Thus, -we find stated, on the authority of Maha bharat, -that widows could formerly take other husbands—married -women, with the consent of their husbands, -maintain intercourse with other men—several -individuals, of the same race and religion, -espouse one wife among them;—in ancient times -there existed no such practice as appropriation of -husband and wife; every woman being allowed to -cohabit with whomsoever she liked; conjugal fidelity -was only in later times made a duty. Much of what -he describes may be seen, even in our days, in India, -where all the degrees of civilisation which the Hindus -ever attained, from the lowest to the highest, -occur here and there within a small compass of -<a name="Page_cxviii" id="Page_cxviii"></a><span class="pageno">cxviii</span> -country. So constant are they in good and bad! -The whole of antiquity is still living in India, and -Herodotus stands confirmed in what appeared most -incredible in his narrative by the testimonies of Mohsan -Fáni, the reverend abbe Dubois,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_143" id="fnanchor_143"></a><a href="#footnote_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a></span> -Ward, and -others. The Persian author intersperses his account -with anecdotes which characterise in the most -lively manner individuals, sects, and tribes. If now -and then we must avert our eyes from disgusting -scenes of human degradation, more frequently we -admire man, even in his errors, for the power and -command of the mental over the physical part of -his nature. The naked Yogi, who inflicts the most -cruel tortures upon himself, wants but a better -motive for being justly extolled as a hero of fortitude; -death appears to him an habitual companion, -into whose arms he sinks without fear; overpowered -by malady, he buries himself alive.</p> - -<p>We may be astonished at the number of unbelievers -<a name="Page_cxix" id="Page_cxix"></a><span class="pageno">cxix</span> -among the Hindus of whom we read, and at -the licentiousness of their opinions, expressed with -a strength which we should think carried to excess.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_144" id="fnanchor_144"></a><a href="#footnote_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a></span> -We perceive also that, in contradiction to common -belief, in the midst of the seventeenth century, when -the Dabistán was composed (1645 A. D.) a numerous -class of Indians assumed the name of Muselmans, -but it must be remarked, that the Hindus neither -endeavor to make, nor easily admit, proselytes: because -their religion depends much less upon creed, -in which they are latitudinarians, than upon the -fixed customs of their castes, the character of which, -being derived from birth, cannot be transferred to -strangers.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_145" id="fnanchor_145"></a><a href="#footnote_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a></span> -We shall see hereafter in what manner -Hindus and Muhammedans may be confounded with -each other.</p> - -<p>So much of India being known in our days, we -have the facility of trying the veracity and correctness -of the Dabistán concerning this country. Its -account will be found, I dare say, rather incomplete -in the small compass in which so extensive a subject -was inclosed, but not inaccurate in the greatest part -of its various statements. Sir W. Jones<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_146" id="fnanchor_146"></a><a href="#footnote_146" class="fnanchor">[146]</a></span> -bears Mohsan -Fani the testimony, “that his information concerning -<a name="Page_cxx" id="Page_cxx"></a><span class="pageno">cxx</span> -the Hindus is wonderfully correct.” Let -us compare the account given by him with all that -has been published about India by the best instructed -Europeans before the foundation of the Asiatic Society -of Bengal, and we shall regret that the Dabistán -was brought into notice so late. Whatever it -be, the particular views of a Persian, through a -medium of education, religion, and custom, so different -from that through which we consider India, -can but interest us by their novelty, and by themselves -add something to our information about the -character of Asiatics.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_124" id="footnote_124"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_124"><span class="muchsmaller">[124]</span></a> - According to Manetho, a high-priest of Heliopolis, the Egyptians -counted 53,525 years; they saw twice the sun set where he now rises—they -saw (as well as the Chaldeans) the ecliptic perpendicular upon the -equator before 39,710 years. Herodotus (<abbr title="liber Two">lib. II</abbr>) attributes to them, -more moderately, 15,882 historical years.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_125" id="footnote_125"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_125"><span class="muchsmaller">[125]</span></a> - The history of Joseph, Pharaoh, Moses in Egypt, is often referred to -by Muhammed and his followers; they state that the Egyptian king professed -a religion unlike that mentioned by Greek authors, with whom the -Bible also disagrees. In general, monotheism is adverse to the examination -of polytheistical systems, and seldom accurate in the representation -of their tenets.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_126" id="footnote_126"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_126"><span class="muchsmaller">[126]</span></a> - Quoted by Diogenes Laertius, <cite><abbr title="Proœmium">Prœm.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 6.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_127" id="footnote_127"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_127"><span class="muchsmaller">[127]</span></a> - <abbr title="Liber Two page">Lib. II. p.</abbr> 113. <abbr title="edition">edit.</abbr> Wossel.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_128" id="footnote_128"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_128"><span class="muchsmaller">[128]</span></a> - Vita <abbr title="Apollonii chapter">Apol. c.</abbr> 6.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_129" id="footnote_129"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_129"><span class="muchsmaller">[129]</span></a> - <cite><abbr title="Chronicon liber">Chron. lib.</abbr> post.</cite>, <abbr title="number">n.</abbr> 400.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_130" id="footnote_130"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_130"><span class="muchsmaller">[130]</span></a> - <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Mémoires de Littérature de l’Académie royale des Inscriptions et -Belles-Lettres</cite>, tome <abbr title="Thirty-One">XXXI.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_131" id="footnote_131"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_131"><span class="muchsmaller">[131]</span></a> - Works, <abbr title="volume Three page">vol. III. p.</abbr> 41.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_132" id="footnote_132"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_132"><span class="muchsmaller">[132]</span></a> - Ibid., <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 111. 134.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_133" id="footnote_133"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_133"><span class="muchsmaller">[133]</span></a> - Such is the Jog-Vasishta, mentioned (<abbr title="volume Two pages">vol. II. pp.</abbr> 28 and 256) as a -very ancient book. Sir W. Jones calls it one of the finest compositions -on the philosophy of the Vedanta school; it contains the instructions of -the great Vasishta to his pupil Rama. Lord Teignmouth says, that several -Persian versions of this work exist, and quotes some passages of them, -which, compared with the original Sanscrit, were found substantially -accurate.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_134" id="footnote_134"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_134"><span class="muchsmaller">[134]</span></a> - See the detailed table of it, <abbr title="volume two page">vol. II. p.</abbr> 122.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_135" id="footnote_135"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_135"><span class="muchsmaller">[135]</span></a> - <abbr title="Volume Two pages">Vol. II. pp.</abbr> 91-92.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_136" id="footnote_136"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_136"><span class="muchsmaller">[136]</span></a> - See <cite>Bhagavad-gita</cite>, <abbr title="verses">vv.</abbr> 16. 23. 28. 29. Schlegel’s <abbr title="edition">ed.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_137" id="footnote_137"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_137"><span class="muchsmaller">[137]</span></a> - <abbr title="volume two page">vol. II. p.</abbr> 24.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_138" id="footnote_138"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_138"><span class="muchsmaller">[138]</span></a> - See <abbr title="volume two pages">vol. II. pp.</abbr> 150-151.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_139" id="footnote_139"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_139"><span class="muchsmaller">[139]</span></a> - That which sir W. Jones quotes (see Works, <abbr title="volume Thirteen page">vol. XIII. p.</abbr> 367) is, -perhaps, most to be depended upon.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_140" id="footnote_140"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_140"><span class="muchsmaller">[140]</span></a> - Lucretius, <abbr title="Five verse">V. v.</abbr> 282:</p> - -<div class="fnpoem2"> - <div class="i2">Largus item liquidi fons luminis, æthereus sol,</div> - <div class="i2">Irrigat assiduè cœlum candore recenti.</div> -</div> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_141" id="footnote_141"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_141"><span class="muchsmaller">[141]</span></a> - Sir W. J., Works, <abbr title="volume Three page">vol. III. p.</abbr> 127.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_142" id="footnote_142"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_142"><span class="muchsmaller">[142]</span></a> - <abbr title="Volume Two pages">Vol. II. pp.</abbr> 246-288.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_143" id="footnote_143"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_143"><span class="muchsmaller">[143]</span></a> - See <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Mœurs, Institutions et Cérémonies des Peuples de l’Inde; par -M. l’abbé J. A. Dubois, ci-devant missionnaire dans le Meissour</cite>. -Paris, 1825. This work was first published in the English language, -London, 1816. It had been translated from the author’s French manuscript, -which lord William Bentinck, governor of Madras, purchased on -the account of the East India Company, in 1807. This composition -received the approbation of major Wilks, resident of Maissour, sir James -Mackintosh, and William Erskine, <abbr title="esquire">Esq.</abbr>; to which I am happy to add the -most decisive judgment of the honorably-known Brahman, Ram Mohun -Roy, whom I often heard say: “The European who best knew the Hindus, -and gave the most faithful account of them, was the abbé Dubois.”</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_144" id="footnote_144"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_144"><span class="muchsmaller">[144]</span></a> - See <abbr title="volume two page">vol. II. p.</abbr> 201.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_145" id="footnote_145"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_145"><span class="muchsmaller">[145]</span></a> - The celebrated Ram Mohun Roy had abandoned all the tenets, but -remained as much as possible attached to the customs, of his Brahminical -caste.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_146" id="footnote_146"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_146"><span class="muchsmaller">[146]</span></a> - His Works, <abbr title="volume Four page">vol. IV. p.</abbr> 16.</p> - -<hr class="short" /> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p2 center"><abbr title="Section Five">§ V.</abbr>—<span class="sc">Retrospect of the Persian and Indian -Religions.</span></p> - -<p>I have endeavored to trace the most remarkable -features of Persian and Indian religions from among -those which are contained in the Dabistán. In -them we recognise resemblances, and, in more than -one point, even coincidences, which appear not -merely taken from each other in the course of time, -but rather originally inwoven in the respective institutions. -This may be explained, partly by the general -probability that nations, passing through the -same stages of civilisation, might agree in several -parts of religion, politics, and philosophy, and -<a name="Page_cxxi" id="Page_cxxi"></a><span class="pageno">cxxi</span> -chiefly by the fact, now generally admitted among -the learned,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_147" id="fnanchor_147"></a><a href="#footnote_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a></span> -that in very remote times, a union of all -the Arian nations, among whom the Persians and -Indians are counted, existed in the common -regions of central Asia. Sir W. Jones<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_148" id="fnanchor_148"></a><a href="#footnote_148" class="fnanchor">[148]</a></span> -goes so far -as to say: “We cannot doubt that the book of -Mahabad, or Manu, written in a celestial dialect, -means the Veda.” William von Schlegel most -ingeniously surmises,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_149" id="fnanchor_149"></a><a href="#footnote_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a></span> -“that the name of <span class="title">Zand</span> may -be but a corruption of the Sanscrit word <dfn>chhandas</dfn>, -one of the most usual names of the Vedas.” -The fourteen Mahabadians are to him: “Nothing -else but the fourteen Manus, past and future, of -the Brahmanical mythology.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_150" id="fnanchor_150"></a><a href="#footnote_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a></span> -Thus we should -have to thank Mohsan Fani for a confirmation of the -above-stated historical fact; the <span class="title">Mahabadians</span> were -nothing else but <dfn>Mahabodhis</dfn>, in good Sanscrit, “great -deified teachers;” he would have placed them, -as did lately Burnouf, Lassen, and Charles Ritter, -<a name="Page_cxxii" id="Page_cxxii"></a><span class="pageno">cxxii</span> -somewhere on the highlands of Iran, and he <em>invented</em> -nothing.</p> - -<p>From the ante-historical dynasties descending to -later times, let us consider that, according to respectable -traditions,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_151" id="fnanchor_151"></a><a href="#footnote_151" class="fnanchor">[151]</a></span> -there existed friendly and hostile -relations between Iran and Persia in the time of the -Iranian king <span class="person">Feridun</span>, 1729 years before our era: he -reconducted with an army a fugitive Indian prince, -and rendered India tributary. Two other invasions -took place under the Persian monarch <span class="person">Manucheher</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_152" id="fnanchor_152"></a><a href="#footnote_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a></span> -after which the Indians recovered their liberty. -Under Kai Kobad<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_153" id="fnanchor_153"></a><a href="#footnote_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a></span> -flourished Rustum, who ruled, -beside other countries, Sejistan and Kabul, conquered -the Panj-áb, and carried war into the bosom -of Arya varta. This country was also attacked by -Afrasiab, a Turan prince,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_154" id="fnanchor_154"></a><a href="#footnote_154" class="fnanchor">[154]</a></span> -then possessor of Persia. -Ferdusi’s Shah-namah indicates expeditions of Feramurs, -a son of Rustum, to India, under the reign -of Kai Khosrú. We arrive at the epoch of Gushtasp, -who ordered the Indus to be explored, and -<a name="Page_cxxiii" id="Page_cxxiii"></a><span class="pageno">cxxiii</span> -although he had not, as Herodotus asserts,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_155" id="fnanchor_155"></a><a href="#footnote_155" class="fnanchor">[155]</a></span> -conquered -the Indians, he entertained religious relations -with that nation. After Alexander’s conquest -of Persia, Sassan, the son of Dara, retired to -Hind, where, devoted to the service of God, he -died.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_156" id="fnanchor_156"></a><a href="#footnote_156" class="fnanchor">[156]</a></span> -After a very obscure period of Persian history, -Ardeshir, directed by a dream, brought an -offspring of Sassan from Kabulistan to Istakhar. -We cannot doubt that at all times a communication -was open between Iran and India, where Bahram -Gor married an Indian princess, and whence Nushirvan -received a celebrated book and the game of -chess. In our seventh century, the Muhammedan -Arabians, driven by the spirit of conquest, turned -their arms towards India, but stopped on the borders -of the Indus. It was reserved to Muhammedan -Moghuls, mixed with Persians, to establish in the -midst of India an empire which, after eight hundred -years, disjoined by various disorders, fell into the -hands of the English.</p> - -<p>This rapid sketch is perhaps sufficient to explain -any mixture, fusion, and resemblance of Persian and -Indian doctrines and institutions, if even we were -not disposed to seek their fountain-head in the sacred -gloom of the remotest antiquity. Whatever it be, -in any case, it will no more be said, that the Dabistán -<a name="Page_cxxiv" id="Page_cxxiv"></a><span class="pageno">cxxiv</span> - was written “with the intention to claim for -Persia the pre-eminence over India, concerning -the antiquity of religious revelations.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_157" id="fnanchor_157"></a><a href="#footnote_157" class="fnanchor">[157]</a></span> In -fact, Mohsan Fani never explicitly alludes to a comparative -antiquity between the Persians and Indians, -and implicitly acknowledges the anteriority of the -Indian religion over the Zoroastrian, in a part of -Persia at least, by relating that Gushtasp was converted -from the former to the latter by Zardusht, -by whom also the Indian sage, <span class="person">Sankhara atcharya</span>, -was vanquished.</p> - -<p>After a more accurate examination, the resemblance -between the said religions will be found to -exist certainly in particular principles and tenets, -but not at all in the general character or the spirit -of these religious systems. Nothing can be more -dissimilar than the austerity of Mezdaism and the -luxuriancy of Hinduism in the development of their -respective dogmas, and particularly in their worship, -as was already observed.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_158" id="fnanchor_158"></a><a href="#footnote_158" class="fnanchor">[158]</a></span> -We cannot however -deny, that not a little of the similarity in the -account of different religions belongs to the author -of the Dabistán, who most naturally confounded the -ideas of his own with those of more ancient times, -and used expressions proper to his particular creed -when speaking of that of others. Thus he employs -<a name="Page_cxxv" id="Page_cxxv"></a><span class="pageno">cxxv</span> -very often the term <dfn>angels</dfn> for that of divinities, and -carries the mania of allegorising, so peculiar to -the later Muhammedan Súfis, into his description -of the Indian mythology. This sort of substitution, -or these anachronisms of expression, are to be -remarked in the narrative of other authors, praised -for general correctness and veracity; I can here so -much the more readily call to mind similar inaccuracies -in the accounts which Greek historians, and -in particular the philosophic Xenophon, gave of -Persia, as I may add, that in many points they agree -with our Mohsan Fani.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_147" id="footnote_147"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_147"><span class="muchsmaller">[147]</span></a> - See above, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 76.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_148" id="footnote_148"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_148"><span class="muchsmaller">[148]</span></a> - His Works, <abbr title="volume Four page">vol. IV. p.</abbr> 105.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_149" id="footnote_149"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_149"><span class="muchsmaller">[149]</span></a> - <cite>Loco cit.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 69.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_150" id="footnote_150"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_150"><span class="muchsmaller">[150]</span></a> - <cite>Ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 51. Among the -Persians is even found <dfn>Behesht-i-Gang</dfn>, -and <dfn>Gang-diz</dfn>, “the Paradise,” and “the castle of Ganga” (Hyde, -<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 170).—Mr. Julius Mohl says -(<cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Journal asiatique, mars</cite> 1841, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 281): -“Zohac is the representative of a Semitical dynasty, which in Persia took -place of the <em>Indian</em> dynasty, and overthrew the entirely <em>Brahmanical</em> -institutions of Jamshid.” We see the opinion that Hinduism once -resided in Iran daily gaining ground.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_151" id="footnote_151"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_151"><span class="muchsmaller">[151]</span></a> - The History of Hindostan, etc., by Alex. Dow, 1768, <abbr title="tome one page">t. -I. p.</abbr> 12 <span class="decoration">et -seq.</span> The same, by J. Briggs, 1829. -<abbr title ="Introductory chapter page fourteen">Introd., ch. p. -xiv.</abbr> <span class="decoration">et seq.</span></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_152" id="footnote_152"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_152"><span class="muchsmaller">[152]</span></a> - The Mandauces of Ctesias and of Moses of Chorene. He reigned, -according to Ferdusi, B. C., from 1229-1109; according to our chronogers, -from 730-715.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_153" id="footnote_153"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_153"><span class="muchsmaller">[153]</span></a> - The Arphaxad of the Hebrews; the Dejoces of Herodotus; the Arsæus -of Ctesias; he is placed B. C. 1075 by the Orientals; 696 years by the -Occidentals.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_154" id="footnote_154"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_154"><span class="muchsmaller">[154]</span></a> - All kings of Turan were called Afrasiáb.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_155" id="footnote_155"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_155"><span class="muchsmaller">[155]</span></a> - <abbr title="Liber Four">Lib. IV.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_156" id="footnote_156"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_156"><span class="muchsmaller">[156]</span></a> - See <cite>The Desátir</cite>, <abbr title="English translation, page">Engl. - trans., p.</abbr> 185.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_157" id="footnote_157"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_157"><span class="muchsmaller">[157]</span></a> - See before, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 75.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_158" id="footnote_158"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_158"><span class="muchsmaller">[158]</span></a> - See <a href="#Page_102">page 102</a>.</p> - -<hr class="short" /> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p2 center"><abbr title="Section Six">§ VI.</abbr>—<span class="sc">The -Religion of the Tabitian (Tibetans).</span></p> - -<p>The third chapter of the Dabistán treats of the -religion of the <span class="title">Kera Tabitán</span> (Tibitans). The author -says that he received his information from a learned -man of this sect by means of an interpreter, who -did not always satisfy his inquiries; the little he -says appears to belong to a class of Buddhistic Hinduism, -and not to be destitute of truth.</p> - -<hr class="short" /> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p class="p2 center"><abbr title="Section Seven">§ VII.</abbr>—<span class="sc">The -Religion of the Jews.</span></p> - -<p>Then follows, in the fourth chapter, a short -account of the religion of the Yahuds or Jews. The -author derived his notion from a Rabbin converted -<a name="Page_cxxvi" id="Page_cxxvi"></a><span class="pageno">cxxvi</span> -to Muhammedism, and states nothing which was -not really professed by one of the Jewish sects, -which, in his summary narration, he does not distinguish. -He gives a Persian translation of the first -five chapters, and a part of the sixth chapter of the -Genesis from the Hebrew original; a comparison of -it with several other translations known in Europe, -proves its general accuracy; I thought it not altother -unimportant to point out the few variations -which occur.</p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p2 center"><abbr title="Section Eight">§ VIII.</abbr>—<span class="sc">The -Religion of the Christians.</span></p> - -<p>It is not without great interest that an European -Christian will peruse the fifth chapter, in which a -Persian treats of the religion of the <dfn>Tarsas</dfn>, that is, -“Christians.” Mohsan Fani declares, that he saw -several learned Christians, such as the Padre -<span class="person">Francis</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_159" id="fnanchor_159"></a><a href="#footnote_159" class="fnanchor">[159]</a></span> -highly esteemed by the Portuguese in Goa and in -Surat. We can scarce doubt, that it was from that -<a name="Page_cxxvii" id="Page_cxxvii"></a><span class="pageno">cxxvii</span> -father, or some other Roman Catholic missionary, -that he received his information; as he portrays particularly -the Roman Catholic doctrine, of which, in -my opinion, he exhibits a more faithful idea than -that which a great number of Protestants entertain, -and are wont to express.</p> - -<p>Every Christian may be satisfied with the picture -of his religion, which, although contracted in a -small compass, is nevertheless faithfully drawn by -a foreign but impartial hand. Mohsan Fani, in seventeen -pages of our translation, states only a few -circumstances of the life of Jesus Christ, and a few -dogmas relative to him as son of God, and the second -person of the holy Trinity. In the account of seven -sacraments, the eucharist is characterised in a manner -which will not fail to attract attention.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_160" id="fnanchor_160"></a><a href="#footnote_160" class="fnanchor">[160]</a></span> Scarce -any rites or ceremonies are mentioned; the greatest -part of the statement relates to the moral precepts -of Christianity, which presents an advantageous -contrast with the many absurd and superstitious -duties, with which other religions are encumbered. -Thus, we find confirmed in the Dabistán that the -<a name="Page_cxxviii" id="Page_cxxviii"></a><span class="pageno">cxxviii</span> -Pentateuch of the Jews and the Gospel of the Christians -were both sufficiently familiar to Muhammedans -who had any pretension to learning.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_159" id="footnote_159"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_159"><span class="muchsmaller">[159]</span></a> - Probably a Portuguese. From him Mohsan Fani might have received -the information (see <abbr title="volume two page">vol. II. p.</abbr> 307) that an image of St. Veronica is -preserved in a town of Spain, probably within the year 1641, before it -was known in India that Portugal had freed itself from the domination -of Spain, which event took place on the 1st December, 1640. On that -account, the father spoke of the peninsular sovereign as still possessor of -both kingdoms, and, instead of calling him <span class="title">king of Spain</span>, styled him -<span class="title">king of Portugal</span>, from fond partiality for his native country. This -remark was suggested to me by the learned viscount of Santarem.—(See -<abbr title="Volume Two pages">Vol. II. pp.</abbr> 307. 308, note 1.)</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_160" id="footnote_160"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_160"><span class="muchsmaller">[160]</span></a> - See <abbr title="volume two page">vol. II. p.</abbr> 315. “The holiest of all the sacraments, as it presents -the Lord Jesus under the form of bread, that it may become the -power of the soul.” This definition was most likely not that which -Mohsan Fani heard from father Francis, but the intelligent Persian -might have understood that a strong and lively representation of an -object is equivalent to its <em>real presence</em>, which latter words must have -been those used, as orthodox, by a Roman Catholic priest.</p> -<hr class="short" /> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p class="p2 center"><abbr title="Section Nine">§ IX.</abbr>—<span class="sc">The Religion of the Muselmans.</span></p> - -<p>The author of the Dabistán, after having treated -of the most ancient religions, passes to the comparatively -modern religious system of Arabia. The -Arabians, although frequently attacked, were never -conquered by the Assyrians, Medians, Persians, or -Romans; they maintained their political independance, -but could not avoid nor resist the religious -influence of nations with whom they were, during -ages, in various relations. The ancient history of -Arabia is lost, like that of many other nations; so -much is known of their oldest religion, that it resembled -that of the Persians and Hindus: it was the -Magism or Sabæism; the stars were worshipped as -idols from the remotest times; we read of antediluvian -idols. At the time, which we now consider, -that is the seventh century of our era, all the then -existing religions seemed to be far remote from -their original simplicity and purity;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_161" id="fnanchor_161"></a><a href="#footnote_161" class="fnanchor">[161]</a></span> -idolatry was -dominant, and Monotheism preserved and positively -professed only in Judaism and Christianity, although -<a name="Page_cxxix" id="Page_cxxix"></a><span class="pageno">cxxix</span> -likewise corrupted by various kinds of superstition. -Followers of both these religions were settled in -Arabia, to which region the Jews fled from the -cruel destruction of their country by the Romans; -and the Christians, on account of the persecutions -and disorders which had arisen in the Eastern -church.</p> - -<p>We see by what facts, circumstances, and notions -Muhammed was acted upon, whilst nourishing -his religious enthusiasm by solitary contemplation -in the cavern of mount Hara, to which he was -wont to retire for one month in every year. In his -fortieth year, at the same age at which Zoroaster -began to teach 600 years before Christ (according -to some chronologers), Muhammed, as many years -after the Messiah, assumed the prophetic mission -to reform the Arabians. He felt the necessity of -seizing some safe and essential dogmas in the chaos -of Magian, Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian notions; -broke all the figures of planets in the temple -of Mecca, and declared the most violent war against -all plastic, graven, and painted idols; he left undisturbed -only the <em>black stone</em>, Saturn’s emblem before, -and at the time when the Jewish traditions claimed -it for Abraham, and even transported it to heaven. -Muhammed preferred the latter to the more ancient -superstition; as to the rest, he abhorred the prevailing -idolatry of the Sabaians; and blamed the corruption -<a name="Page_cxxx" id="Page_cxxx"></a><span class="pageno">cxxx</span> -of monotheism in the Jews and Christians. -He felt in himself the powerful spirit, and undertook -to re-establish the <dfn>Touhid</dfn>, “the unity and spiritualism -of God;” he preached with enthusiastic -zeal the <span class="title">Islam</span>, “devotedness und resignation to -God.”</p> - -<p>But, in order to found and to expand the great -and necessary truths, he knew no other means, but -to attach the believers to his own person, and to accustom -them to blind obedience to his dictates; he -proclaimed: “There is no God but God, and Muhammed -is his prophet;” he gave them the Koran, -the only holy book, in which his precepts were as -many commands proclaimed under the penalty of -eternal damnation. In the Muhammedan all spontaneity -is stifled; all desire, all attempt to be self-convinced -is interdicted; every thing becomes exterior, -the religious and civil Code but one.</p> - -<p>Muhammed seemed not to know that religion -cannot be the gift, as it is not the property, of any -single man; it belongs to mankind. Any particular -creed lives only by its inherent force, independently -of the founder, who retires and leaves nothing behind -him but his name as a mere distinction from -that of another religion. Every individual action -is of little avail, if it does not proceed from the -free and pure impulse of the spirit, which must revive -in all succeeding generations. This is acknowledged -<a name="Page_cxxxi" id="Page_cxxxi"></a><span class="pageno">cxxxi</span> -in the Dabistán<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_162" id="fnanchor_162"></a><a href="#footnote_162" class="fnanchor">[162]</a></span> -by giving a very philosophic -explanation of the expression <dfn>prophetic seal</dfn>, -or “the last of prophets:” “That which is reared -up by superior wisdom, renders the prophet’s -knowledge vain, and takes his color; that is to -say: if one hundred thousand prophets like himself -realise in themselves the person of superior -wisdom, they are possessors of the seal, the last -prophets, because it is superior wisdom which is -the seal, and they know themselves to be <em>effaced</em>, -and superior wisdom existing.” Muhammed, although -wise enough to connect himself with other -prophets, his predecessors, pretended however to -close the series, and to be the last of prophets, or -“the seal of prophetism.”</p> - -<p>Vain project! immediately after him violent -contests arose,</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“And discord, with a thousand various mouths.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>Thirty years after his death his family was dispossessed -of the Khalifat. This passed to the Moaviyahs, -who, residing in Damascus, kept it during -90 years, and then ceded it to the Abbasides, who -established their seat at Baghdad. The impulse -and development of the Islam was overwhelming -during the one hundred and twenty years -after the prophet’s death; the mighty spirit of conquest -<a name="Page_cxxxii" id="Page_cxxxii"></a><span class="pageno">cxxxii</span> -had arisen and was—I shall not say irresistible—but -certainly badly resisted by the nations assailed. -The Romans and Persians were then hard pressed -themselves; on the West by the Goths, on the East by -the Huns:—whilst the Greeks had sunk into general -luxury and degeneracy; all feebly sustained the -attack of hardy and active men, whose native habit -of rapine and devastation was then exalted and -sanctified by the name of religion, and continually -invigorated by rich, splendid, and easy conquests. -Thus, the khalifs, who were divided into two great -lines, the before-mentioned <span class="title">Abbasides</span> -and the <span class="title">Fatimites</span>, -extended their empire within 600 years after -Muhammed, not only over the greatest part of Asia, -but also along the western shore of Africa, Egypt, -Spain, and Sicily; threatening the rest of Europe.</p> - -<p>After the first labors, came rest, during which -the genius of the Arabs turned to persevering study, -deep speculation, and noble ambition: this was the -scientific age of the Arabs, which began in the middle -of our eighth century, and was most conspicuous -in the old seats of learning, Babylonia, Syria, -Egypt, Persia, and India. But in the numerous -schools rose violent schisms and bloody contests -between philosophy and religion. In the mean -time the khalifs, by becoming worldly sovereigns, -had lost their sacred character, and were in contradiction -with the principle of their origin. The -<a name="Page_cxxxiii" id="Page_cxxxiii"></a><span class="pageno">cxxxiii</span> -crusades of the Christians, by reviving their martial -energy, maintained for some time the vacillating -power of the Khalifs, but their vast and divided -empire, assailed by Pagan nations, first in the West -in 1211, and forty-seven years afterwards in the -East, fell in 1258 of our era. Muhammedism -however revived in the barbarous and energetic -conquerors, Turks, Seljuks, Albanese, Kurds, Africans, -who were drawn into its circle; and science -was again cultivated in Tunis, Bulgaria, and India.</p> - -<p>I thought necessary to draw this rapid historical -sketch, because within its outlines is contained the -account of the Muhammedan sects as given in the -text of the Dabistán.</p> - -<p>Mohsan Fani himself lived in the age of general -decline of Muhammedism. He exhibits in the sixth -chapter the religion of his own nation: we may -expect that he will be true and accurate. He divides -the chapter into two sections: the first treats -of the creed of the Sonnites; the second, of that of -the Shiâhs. These are the two principal sects of the -Muhammedans, but divided into a number of others, -exceeding that of seventy-three, which Muhammed -himself has announced, and consigned, all except -one, to eternal damnation. This one was that of -the <dfn>sonnah</dfn> “the traditional law,” or <dfn>Jamaât</dfn>, “the -assembly.” The Dabistán explains this religion -in a manner which, to Muhammedans, might appear -<a name="Page_cxxxiv" id="Page_cxxxiv"></a><span class="pageno">cxxxiv</span> -sufficiently clear, in spite of digressions and -want of order in the arrangement of the matter; -but an European reader will desire more light than -is afforded in the text, and feel himself perplexed -to understand the meaning of frequent technical -terms, and to connect the various notions disseminated -in an unequal narrative—now too diffuse, now -too contracted. The following are the principal -features of the long account of Muhammedism contained -in the Dabistán.</p> - -<p>Immediately after the promulgation of the Koran, -which followed Muhammed’s death, it became necessary -to fix the meaning and to determine the -bearing of its text. There was one theme in which -all agreed: the grandeur, majesty, and beneficence -of one supreme Being, the Creator, ruler, and preserver -of the world, which is the effulgence of his -power. This is expressed in the Koran in such a -strain of sublimity as may unite men of all religions -in one feeling of admiration. This excellence is an -inheritance of the most ancient Asiatic religion. -God can but be always the object of boundless -adoration, but never that of human reasoning. -Hence the Muhammedan sects disagreed about the -attributes of God.</p> - -<p>The residence assigned, although inconsistently -with pure spiritualism, to the supreme Being was -the ninth heaven; an eighth sphere formed the intermediate -<a name="Page_cxxxv" id="Page_cxxxv"></a><span class="pageno">cxxxv</span> -story between the uppermost heaven -and seven other spheres, distributed among so many -prophets, in the same manner as, in the Desátir, the -seven prophet kings of the Péshdadian dynasty -were joined to the seven planets which they, each -one in particular, venerated. Numberless angels, -among whom four principal chiefs, fill the universe, -and serve, in a thousand different ways, the supreme -Lord of creation. We recognisee the notions -of the ancient Persian religion in this, and in the -whole system of divine government.</p> - -<p>Another subject of violent and interminable dispute -was God’s action upon the nether world, principally -upon mankind, or God’s universal and eternal -judgment, commonly called <dfn>predestination</dfn>. This -subject was greatly agitated by the <span class="person">Matezalas</span>, <span class="person">Kadarians</span>, -<span class="person">Jabarians</span>, and others; they disputed</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“<cite>Of providence, foreknowledge. will, and fate,</cite></div> - <div class="i0"><cite>Fix’d fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute,</cite></div> - <div class="i0"><cite>And found no end, in wand’ring mazes lost.</cite>”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>Although this subject appears to be connected -with the Zoroastrian doctrine of the two principles, -“good and bad,” yet it has never been agitated -with so much violence in so many particular ways by -any religionists as by the Muhammedans.</p> - -<p>It has already been observed that, according -to tradition, the ancient Persian philosophy was -<a name="Page_cxxxvi" id="Page_cxxxvi"></a><span class="pageno">cxxxvi</span> -carried in the reign of Alexander to Greece, and -from thence, after having been recast in the mould -of Greek genius, returned in translations to its original -country. We find it expressly stated in the -Dabistán, that Plato and Aristotle were acknowledge -as the founders of two principal schools of -Muhammedan philosophers, to wit, those of the -<span class="title">Hukma ashrákín</span>, “Platonists,” and the <span class="title">Hukma masháyín</span>, -“Aristotelian, or Peripatetics.” To these add -the Súfí’s <span class="title">matsherâin</span>, “orthodox Sufis,” who took -care not to maintain any thing contrary to revelation, -and exerted all their sagacity to reconcile -passages of the Koran with sound philosophy. -This was the particular profession of the <dfn>Matkalmin</dfn>, -“scholastics.” These cede to no other philosophers -the palm of mastering subtilties and acute distinctions. -They had originally no other object but -that of defending their creed against the heterodox -philosophers. But they went further, and attacked -the Peripatetics themselves with the intention to -substitute another philosophy for theirs. It may be -here sufficient to call to mind the works of three -most celebrated men, <span class="person">Alfarabi</span>, <span class="person">Ibn Sina</span> (Avisenna), -and <span class="person">Ghazali</span>, whose works are reckoned to be the -best specimens of Arabian and Muhammedan -philosophy.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_163" id="fnanchor_163"></a><a href="#footnote_163" class="fnanchor">[163]</a></span> -They contain three essential parts of orthodox -<a name="Page_cxxxvii" id="Page_cxxxvii"></a><span class="pageno">cxxxvii</span> -dogmatism: 1. <span class="title">ontology</span>, <span class="title">physiology</span>, and <span class="title">psychology</span>; -these together are called “the science of -possible things;” 2. <dfn>theology</dfn>, that is, the discussion -upon the existence, essence, and the attributes -of God; as well as his relations with the world and -man in particular; 3. <dfn>the science of prophetism</dfn>, or -“revealed theology.” All these subjects are touched -upon in the Dabistán, but in a very desultory -manner. I shall add, that the author puts in evidence -a sect called <span class="title">Akhbárín</span>, or “dogmatic traditionists,” -who participate greatly in the doctrine -of the Matkalmin, and in his opinion are the most -approvable of all religious philosophers.</p> - -<p>The contest for the khalifat between the family of -Ali, Muhammed’s son-in-law, and the three first -khalifs, as well as the families of Moaviah and Abbas, -a contest which began in the seventh century, -and appears not yet terminated in our days—this -contest, so much more violent as it was at once -religious and political, occasioned the rise of a -great number of sects. Much is found about Ali -in the Dabistán, and even an article of the -Koran,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_164" id="fnanchor_164"></a><a href="#footnote_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a></span> -published no where else relative to this great Muselman, -which his adversaries are said to have suppressed. -The adherents of Ali are called <span class="title">Shiâhs</span>.</p> - -<p><a name="Page_cxxxviii" id="Page_cxxxviii"></a><span class="pageno">cxxxviii</span> -The Persians, after being conquered by the Arabs, -were compelled to adopt the Muhammedan religion, -but they preserved a secret adherence to Magism, -their ancient national creed, they were therefore -easily disposed to join any sect, which was more -or less contrary to the standard creed of their conquerors, -and bore some slight conformity, or had -the least connection with, their former religion. -They became Shiâhs.</p> - -<p>Among these sectaries originated the particular -office of <span class="title">Imám</span>, whose power partook of something -of a mysterious nature: the visible presence -of an Imám was not required; he could, although -concealed, be acknowledged, direct and command -his believers; his name was <span class="person">Mahdi</span>, “the director.” -This opinion originated and was spread -after the sudden disappearance of the seventh Imám, -called <span class="person">Ismâil</span>. His followers, the Ismâilahs, maintained -that he was not dead; that he lived concealed, -and directed the faithful by messages, sent by -him, and brought by his deputies; that he would one -day reappear, give the victory to his adherents over -all other sects, and unite the world in one religion. -More than one Mahdi was subsequently proclaimed in -different parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe—always -expected, never appearing—so that it became a proverbial -expression among the Arabs to denote tardiness: -“<cite>as slow as a Mahdi</cite>.” We recognize in this -<a name="Page_cxxxix" id="Page_cxxxix"></a><span class="pageno">cxxxix</span> -an ancient idea of Zoroaster: he too was to reappear -in his sons at the end of 12,000 years; rather late,—but -mankind never tire of hope and expectation.</p> - -<p>A creed, like that of the <span class="title">Ismâilahs</span>, because founded -upon something mysterious, vague, and spiritual, -was likely to branch out in most extraordinary conceptions -and practices. The Dabistán abounds with -curious details about them. Their doctrine bore -the character of duplicity: one part was manifest, -the other concealed. Their manner of making proselytes -was not open; they acted in the dark. They -first induced the neophyte to doubt, then to despise -his own creed, and at last to exchange it for apparently -more sublime truths, until, after having sufficiently -emboldened his reasoning faculty, they -enabled him to throw off every restraint of authority -in religious matters. We see in the -Dabistán,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_165" id="fnanchor_165"></a><a href="#footnote_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a></span> -the degrees through which an Ismâilah was to pass -until he believed in no religion at all.</p> - -<p>A most remarkable sect of the Ismâilahs was that -of the <span class="title">Almutians</span>, so called from <dfn>Alamut</dfn>, a hill-fort in -the Persian province of <span class="place">Ghilan</span>. This fort was the -seat of <span class="person">Hassan</span>, a self-created Imám, and became the -capital of an empire, perhaps unique in the history -of the world.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_166" id="fnanchor_166"></a><a href="#footnote_166" class="fnanchor">[166]</a></span> -An Imám, called by Europeans “the -old man of the mountain,” without armies, or -<a name="Page_cxl" id="Page_cxl"></a><span class="pageno">cxl</span> -treasures, commanded the country around, and terrified -a great part of Asia by a band of devoted adherents, -whom he sent about to propagate his religion, -and to execute his commands, which were -frequently the murder of his enemies. The executioners -were unknown save at the fatal moment -of action; mighty khalifs and sultans met with -their murderers among their most intimate servants, -or the guardians of their doors, in the midst of -crowded public places or in the solitude of their secret -bed-chambers. The <span class="title">Fedayis</span>, so were they called, -devoted themselves not only to the sacred service of -their Imám, but hired their arm also for profane -service to foreign chiefs, such as the Christian crusaders. -Among Europeans, these Ismâilahs were -known under the name of <span class="title">Assassins</span>, which well -answered their infamous profession, but is better -derived from <dfn>Hashishah</dfn><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_167" id="fnanchor_167"></a><a href="#footnote_167" class="fnanchor">[167]</a></span>, -a sort of hemp, from which -they extracted an intoxicating beverage for their -frequent use. During one hundred and sixty years -the Ismâilahs were the terror of the weak and the -mighty, until they fell in one promiscuous slaughter, -with the khalif of Islámism, under the swords of the -ferocious invaders who, issuing from the vast steppes -of Tartary, fell upon the disordered empire of the -Muhammedans.</p> - -<p><a name="Page_cxli" id="Page_cxli"></a><span class="pageno">cxli</span> -The Ismâilahs, and other sects connected with -them, professed a great attachment to an Imám, -whose lineage was always traced up to Ali through -a series of intermediate descendants; but it belonged -to the <span class="title">Ali-Ilahians</span> to deify Ali himself, or to believe -his having been an incarnation of God.</p> - -<p>Another sect, the <span class="title">Ulviahs</span>, also devoted to Ali, -maintain that he was united with the sun, that he -is now the sun, and having also been the sun before, -he was for some days only united to an elemental -body. Both these sects reject the Koran.</p> - -<p>Here terminates the review of the second volume -of the English Dabistán.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_161" id="footnote_161"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_161"><span class="muchsmaller">[161]</span></a> - See, in what sense, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> <a href="#Page_83">83-84</a>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_162" id="footnote_162"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_162"><span class="muchsmaller">[162]</span></a> - See <abbr title="volume Three pages">vol. III. pp.</abbr> 202-203. - See also <cite>ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 229 and note 2.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_163" id="footnote_163"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_163"><span class="muchsmaller">[163]</span></a> - See upon this subject a recent very ingenious work: <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Essai sur -les Écoles philosophiques chez les Arabes, et notamment sur la doctrine</cite> -<cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">d’Algazzalí, par Auguste Schmölders, docteur en philosophie</cite>, Paris, -1842. Dedicated to M. Reinaud, member of the Institute of France, and -professor of Arabic.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_164" id="footnote_164"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_164"><span class="muchsmaller">[164]</span></a> - See <abbr title="volume two page">vol. II. p.</abbr> 368.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_165" id="footnote_165"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_165"><span class="muchsmaller">[165]</span></a> - <abbr title="Volume Two pages">Vol. II. pp.</abbr> 404-407.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_166" id="footnote_166"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_166"><span class="muchsmaller">[166]</span></a> - See <abbr title="volume two page">vol. II. p.</abbr> 433 <span class="decoration">et seq.</span></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_167" id="footnote_167"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_167"><span class="muchsmaller">[167]</span></a> - See <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Mémoires géographiques et historiques sur l’Égypte et sur quelques -contrées voisines, par Étienne Quatremère</cite>, <abbr title="volume two page">vol. II. p.</abbr> 504. 1811.</p> -<hr class="short" /> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p2 center"><abbr title="Section Ten">§ X.</abbr>—<span class="sc">The Religion of the Sadikiahs.</span></p> - -<p>The third volume of this work begins with the -seventh chapter, upon the religion of the <span class="title">Sadikiahs</span>. -It is generally known that, during the life of Muhammed, -another prophet, called Musaylima, arose in -the country of Yamáma, and dared offer to himself -in a letter to the former as a partner of his sacred -mission, but was treated as a liar. He had however -gained a great number of followers, at the head of -whom he was defeated and himself slain in a bloody -battle against Khaled, a general of the first Khalif, -the very same year as Muhammed’s death. We -<a name="Page_cxlii" id="Page_cxlii"></a><span class="pageno">cxlii</span> -find in the Dabistán, what appears less generally -known, that Musaylima’s sect, far from being entirely -crushed after his fall, existed under the name of -<span class="title">Sadikias</span> in the seventeenth century of our era, and -conformed to a second <dfn>Faruk</dfn>, or Koran, to which -they attributed a divine origin, and a greater authority -than to the -first.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_168" id="fnanchor_168"></a><a href="#footnote_168" class="fnanchor">[168]</a></span></p> - -<p>Another account, not frequently met with, is -contained in the eighth chapter of the Dabistán, concerning -<span class="person">Vahed Mahmud</span>, who appeared in the beginning -of our thirteenth century, and is by his adherents -placed above Muhammed and Ali. Among -his tenets and opinions is to be remarked that of an -ascending refinement or perfection of elemental matter, -from the brute or mineral to that of a vegetable -form; from this to that of an animal body; and -thence progressing to that of Mahmud.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_169" id="fnanchor_169"></a><a href="#footnote_169" class="fnanchor">[169]</a></span> -Further, -the particular mode of transmigration of souls by -means of food into which men, after their death, are -changed; such food, <em>in which intelligence and action -may reside</em>, becomes continually the aliment and -<a name="Page_cxliii" id="Page_cxliii"></a><span class="pageno">cxliii</span> -substance of new successive human beings. We -were not a little astonished to find these singular opinions -agreeing with the information, which Milton’s -archangel Raphael imparts to Adam, the father of -mankind.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_170" id="fnanchor_170"></a><a href="#footnote_170" class="fnanchor">[170]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“O Adam, one Almighty is, from whom</div> - <div class="i0">All things proceed, and up to him return,</div> - <div class="i0">If not depraved from good, created all</div> - <div class="i0">Such to perfection, one first matter all,</div> - <div class="i0">Indued with various forms, various degrees</div> - <div class="i0">Of substance, and in things that live, of life;</div> - <div class="i0">But more refin’d, more spirituous, and pure,</div> - <div class="i0">As nearer to him plac’d or nearer tending,</div> - <div class="i0">Each in their several active spheres assign’d,</div> - <div class="i0"><em>Till body up to spirit work</em>, in bounds</div> - <div class="i0">Proportioned to each kind. So from the root</div> - <div class="i0">Springs lighter the green stalk, from thence the leaves</div> - <div class="i0">More aery, last the bright consummate flower</div> - <div class="i0">Spirits odorous breathes: <span class="decoration">flow’rs and their fruit,</span></div> - <div class="i0"><span class="decoration">Man’s nourishment, by gradual scale sublim’d,</span></div> - <div class="i0"><span class="decoration">To vital spirits aspire, to animal,</span></div> - <div class="i0"><span class="decoration">To intellectual</span>; give both life and sense,</div> - <div class="i0">Fancy and understanding; whence the soul</div> - <div class="i0">Reason receives, and reason is her being,</div> - <div class="i0">Discursive, or intuitive — — —.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>This sort of hylozoism is more expanded in a -particular system of cosmogony of the same -Vahed,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_171" id="fnanchor_171"></a><a href="#footnote_171" class="fnanchor">[171]</a></span> -according to which the materials of the world existed -from the very beginning, which signifies from the -first appearance of <dfn>afrad</dfn>, “rudimental units.” We -<a name="Page_cxliv" id="Page_cxliv"></a><span class="pageno">cxliv</span> -can never think meanly of this opinion, when we -find it coinciding with that of <span class="person">Leibnitz</span> in our seventeenth -century, contemporary of Mohsan Fani. -According to the celebrated German -philosopher,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_172" id="fnanchor_172"></a><a href="#footnote_172" class="fnanchor">[172]</a></span> -there exists already an entirely organical preformation -in the seeds of the bodies which are born, and -all souls had always pre-existed in some sort of organized -body, and shall after death remain united -with an organic whole; because in the order of nature -souls are not likely to exist entirely separated -from any kind of body. In the eighteenth century -<span class="person">Bonnet</span>, a great physiologist, -maintained,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_173" id="fnanchor_173"></a><a href="#footnote_173" class="fnanchor">[173]</a></span> that all -was preformed from the beginning, nothing engendered; -all organized bodies were pre-existing in a -very small compass in the germs, in which souls -may also pre-exist, these indestructible germs may -sojourn in such or such a body until the moment of -its decomposition, then pass, without the least alteration, -into another body, from this into a third, -and so on; each of the germs incloses another imperishable -germ, which will be developed but in a -future state of our planet, which is destined to experience -a new revolution.</p> - -<p>We see here the very same ideas, without any -<a name="Page_cxlv" id="Page_cxlv"></a><span class="pageno">cxlv</span> -mutual communication, entertained in the East and -the West, in ancient and modern times.</p> - -<p>Vahed Mahmud combines his cosmogony with -periods of 8000 years, eight of which form a great -cycle of 64,000 years, at the completion of which -the world is renovated. This sect is said to have -been widely spread in the world; in Persia the persecution -of Shah Abbas forced them to lie concealed.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_168" id="footnote_168"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_168"><span class="muchsmaller">[168]</span></a> - <abbr title="Volume Three page">Vol. III. p.</abbr> 1-11.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_169" id="footnote_169"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_169"><span class="muchsmaller">[169]</span></a> - The Druids, among the ancient Britons, believed the progressive -ascent of the soul, beginning with the meanest insect, and arriving through -various orders of existence at its human stage. The soul, according to -its choice during terrestrial life, progressed, even after death, in good -and happiness, or evil and misery; the virtuous could return to earth -and become prophets among mankind: in which belief the ancient Britons -agreed with the Indian Buddhists.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_170" id="footnote_170"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_170"><span class="muchsmaller">[170]</span></a> - Paradise Lost, <abbr title="book Five, verses">V. v.</abbr> 470-488.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_171" id="footnote_171"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_171"><span class="muchsmaller">[171]</span></a> - The Dabistán, <abbr title="volume Three page">vol. III. p.</abbr> 17.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_172" id="footnote_172"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_172"><span class="muchsmaller">[172]</span></a> - See his <cite>Théodicée, <abbr title="édition Amsterdam">édit. Amsterd.</abbr> - préface, <abbr title="pages 28">pp. xxviii</abbr></cite> <span class="decoration">et seq.</span></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_173" id="footnote_173"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_173"><span class="muchsmaller">[173]</span></a> - See <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">La Palingénésie philosophique, - ou Idées sur l’État passé et sur - l’État futur des Êtres vivans, par C. Bonnet, de diverses Académies, -<abbr title="Amsterdam">Amsterd.</abbr></cite> 1769, <abbr title="volume one pages">vol. - I. pp.</abbr> 170. 198. 201. 204, etc., etc.</p> - -<hr class="short" /> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p2 center"><abbr title="Section Eleven">§ XI.</abbr>—<span class="sc">The - Religion of the Roshenians.</span></p> - -<p>The ninth chapter of the Dabistán introduces -to us <span class="person">Mian Báyezid</span>, who, born in the Panjáb, flourished -in the middle of the sixteenth century under -the reign of Humayún, the Emperor of India. At -first a strict observer of Muhammedism, he abandoned -afterwards the exterior practices of this religion, -and, devoting his mind to contemplation, assumed -with the character of a saint the title of a -“master of light;” his followers were called <dfn>Roshenians</dfn>, -or “enlightened.” His sayings, several of -which are quoted in the Dabistán, express sound -reason, pure morality, and fervent piety. In the -spirit of his nation and time, and for self-defence, -he took up arms against the Moghuls. His history -and that of his sons is carried to the middle of the -seventeenth century, the time of Mohsan Fani.</p> - -<p><a name="Page_cxlvi" id="Page_cxlvi"></a><span class="pageno">cxlvi</span> -Muhammed was the permanent type of a prophet, -in whom the religious and political character -were united. The first Khalifs were all military -chiefs and religious men; the Koran furnished the -rules of foreign and internal policy, the final decision -of every tribunal, the inciting exclamation to -combat and carnage, and a prayer for every occasion. -The founders of sects were frequently warriors, -or, what in Asia is generally the same, highwaymen -and plunderers of caravans; such was the -just mentioned Miyan Bayezid, and many others. -As possessors of empires, they preserved the austere -habits of ascetics: they carried a sabre and a rosary, -counted their beads and gave order for battle; emaciated -by fasts, covered with a woollen mantle, sitting -upon the bare ground, they disposed of empires -and received the homage of millions of men.</p> - -<p>The Mohammedans preserved their religion, as -long as they were militant: because all states of -mental excitement are apt to support each other. -But, in solitary retirement, and in the precincts of -schools, the doctrine of Muhammed was put to the -test of reason: now began the struggle between -religion and philosophy. Fearful to part at once -with early impressions and national feelings, attempts -to reconcile faith and reason were made; -religious philosophers had recourse to allegory, in -order to rationalize strange and absurd dogmas and -<a name="Page_cxlvii" id="Page_cxlvii"></a><span class="pageno">cxlvii</span> -practices; for the literal they substituted a mystical -sense; under arbitrary acceptations and interpretations, -the foundation of the doctrine itself disappeared, -or was confounded with some old dogma -renewed, if not one entirely invented: in short, the -Muhammedan religion appeared to have survived -itself; its presumed period of one thousand years -was believed to be completed under the reign of -Akbar.</p> -<hr class="short" /> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p2 center"><abbr title="Section Twelve">§ XII.</abbr>—<span class="sc">The - Religion of the Ilahiahs.</span></p> - -<p>Akbar was the greatest among the Moghul emperors -of India. He began in his fourteenth year a -reign environed by war and rebellion. After having -vanquished all his enemies and established peace and -security around him, he turned his attention to religion. -He soon found it right to grant unlimited -toleration to all religions in his empire. Called the -“shade of God,” he took the resolution to realise in -himself the otherwise vain title bestowed by slavish -flattery upon all sovereigns of Asia, and to imitate, -according to his faculties, him who bestows the -blessings of his merciful providence on all creatures -without distinction. This he declared to his -fanatic son Jehangir, who did not conceal his discontent -about the building of an Hindu temple in -<a name="Page_cxlviii" id="Page_cxlviii"></a><span class="pageno">cxlviii</span> -Benares: “Are not,” said Akbar, “five-sixths of -all mankind either Hindus or unbelievers? If -I were actuated by motives similar to those which -thou ownest, what would remain to me but to -destroy them all?”</p> - -<p>The inquisitive emperor was acquainted with the -religious history of the Persian empire; he surrounded -himself with men of all religions—Muhammedans -of all sects, Hindus, Jews, and Christians, -as well as with philosophers free from superstition; -he liked to question them all, and to encourage -public polemical discussions in his presence. The -Sonnites and Shiâhs reviled reciprocally the chief -personages of their adherence, the three first khalifs -and Ali; Muhammed himself was not more -spared than his companions and successors. The -errors of their doctrine, the vices of their character, -and the irregularities of their conduct were freely -exposed, severely blamed, and wittily ridiculed. -If Muhammedism was treated in such a manner, -other religions could not claim more indulgence. -The dramatic form, which Mohsan Fani gives to -the religious controversies, is certainly curious; we -can scarce suppose his having known the dialogues -of Lucian, nor is it in the least probable that a late -French author ever saw the Dabistán and took from -this book the idea of the twenty-first chapter of his -celebrated work, entitled “Problem of religious -<a name="Page_cxlix" id="Page_cxlix"></a><span class="pageno">cxlix</span> -“contradictions.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_174" id="fnanchor_174"></a><a href="#footnote_174" class="fnanchor">[174]</a></span> -The object aimed at by these -three authors was the same; but their compositions -differ from each other as much as the genius and -character of the Greeks, French, and Persians, in -whose language each of them respectively wrote. -In whatsoever point Mohsan Fani may yield to the -Greco-Syrian, or to the French author, he, certainly, -I will venture to say, equals them in force, -boldness, and sincerity; and perhaps surpasses either -in pointed application of truth. His objections are -not vague attempts of witticism with the intention -to ridicule: they are special and serious, directed -to real and patent falsehood or prejudice; he does -not fence with imaginary shadowy adversaries, but -he strikes a present and tangible foe; his style, never -tainted by affectation, is plain and blunt, such -as becomes a reformer combating popular superstition. -The controversies, the scene of which is -placed before the throne, or rather tribunal, of Akbar, -obtain the imperial sanction: Muhammedism -is condemned.</p> - -<p>Indeed, the emperor abrogated several practices -of that religion to which he had been devoted -in his first years; he confined the cultivation -of science, as taken from the Arabs, to astronomy, -geography, medicine, and philosophy, and -<a name="Page_cl" id="Page_cl"></a><span class="pageno">cl</span> -wished to prevent the waste of life in futile and -useless studies. At last, in the month of December, -A. D. 1579, twenty-six years before his death, he substituted -for the common profession of the Muhammedans -the new: “<cite>There is no God but God, and -Akbar his khalif</cite> (or deputy).” He received from a -great number of Amirs and distinguished persons -the voluntary agreement and consent to four conditions, -namely, the sacrifice of property, life, reputation, -and religion, by entering into the new religious -pact, called <dfn>Ilahi</dfn>, “divine.” Moreover, he -introduced in lieu of the former, a new era, to begin -from the death of his father Huinayún, that is -from the year of the Hejira 963, (A. D. 1555): it -was to be called <dfn>Ilahi</dfn>; the months were regulated -according to the mode of Irán, and fourteen festivals -established in concordance with those of Zoroaster’s -religion. It was to this ancient Persian -creed, that he gave the preference, having been -instructed in its sacred tenets and practices by a -learned fire-worshipper who had joined him; and -from books which were sent to him from Persia -and Kirmán. He received the sacred fire, and -committed it to the faithful hands of <span class="person">Abu’l fazil</span>, his -confidential minister: the holy flames of Zardusht -blazed again upon the altars of <span class="title">Aria</span>, and, after a -separation of many centuries, Persians and Indians -were reunited in a common worship.</p> - -<p><a name="Page_cli" id="Page_cli"></a><span class="pageno">cli</span> -As a proof of Akbar’s expansive mind, directed -to all subjects which may interest mankind, I shall -mention his having sequestered a number of children, -before they could speak, from all communition -with the rest of society, in order to know -whether they would form a language. After fourteen -years of seclusion, it was found that they were -dumb: “which made it evident,” says Mohsan -Fani, “that language and letters are not natural -to man—that language is of a long date and the -world very ancient.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_175" id="fnanchor_175"></a><a href="#footnote_175" class="fnanchor">[175]</a></span></p> - -<p>In the third section of the tenth chapter, the -author treats of the influences of the stars upon the -nether world, a very ancient superstition, common -to most nations. Every master of fame is said to -have worshipped particularly one of the stars; Akbar -also received divine commands with regard to -them. We find, in a digression of this section, -curious historical details respecting the person of -Jangis khan, his adoration of the celestial bodies, -epilepsy, and singular superstition of combs. The -great conqueror addressed to his sons the most -<a name="Page_clii" id="Page_clii"></a><span class="pageno">clii</span> -earnest admonitions to remain faithful to the religion -of the stars, to which their fortune was -attached; but fifty-three years after his death one of -his successors and a great part of his nation embraced -Muhammedism.</p> - -<p>The fourth section of the tenth chapter contains -important information upon the administration of -India. Akbar was the first of the Moghul emperors -who considered India as his native country, and -directed his best efforts to the amelioration of its -condition. Exalted to the highest rank, not only -by his birth, but also by his personal acquirements; -assisted, besides, by a train of devoted and enlightened -servants, he could promise himself duration -of the new religion, which he had fondly labored -to found. In vain: it disappeared with him. Private -persons, camel-drivers, and robbers, emerging -from obscurity, such as Muhammed, and others -before and after that Arabian leader, effected more -than an emperor, with every possible advantage -united in and around his person! Human intellect -was perhaps then satiated with religion; its measure -was full: it could not receive any more. In fact, -after Muhammed a number of sects, but no new -religion, arose: in this sense he may, with some -appearance of truth, be called the last of prophets, -or the <dfn>Khátim</dfn>, “the seal of prophetism.”</p> - -<p>Akbar died in 1605 A. D., eight or ten years -<a name="Page_cliii" id="Page_cliii"></a><span class="pageno">cliii</span> -before the birth of the author of the Dabistán. The -latter passed his youth and manhood in India, under -the reigns of that emperor’s son, Jehangir, and -grand-son, Shah Jehan, and great-grandson Aurengzeb; -and was in personal connection with the -latter’s brother, the religious Darashukoh. Mohsan -Fani had therefore good opportunities to be informed -of the events of their days. The religion of the -<span class="title">Ilahiahs</span> is properly the last of which he treats; for -what relates to the religions of the philosophers -and Súfis, the subjects of the two last chapters, -are rather selections of all creeds and opinions, than -particular religions. It will be remembered that -sir W. Jones supposed these two last chapters not -to have been written by the author of the rest of -the Dabistán, which I dare neither affirm nor -deny.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_176" id="fnanchor_176"></a><a href="#footnote_176" class="fnanchor">[176]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_174" id="footnote_174"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_174"><span class="muchsmaller">[174]</span></a> - <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Les Ruines, ou Méditations sur les Révolutions des Empires, par -M. Volney, député à l’Assemblée nationale de</cite> 1789, <span class="place">Paris</span>, 1791.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_175" id="footnote_175"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_175"><span class="muchsmaller">[175]</span></a> - Thus, our author coincides with lord Monboddo, who showed that -language is the slow product of necessity among men linked in society. -See his work <cite>Of the Origin and Progress of Language</cite>, with the motto -of Horace:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="fnpoem2"> - <div class="i0b">“Mutum ac turpe pecus — — — —</div> - <div class="i0">Donec Verba quibus voces sensusque notarent</div> - <div class="i0">Nominaque invenere.”</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_176" id="footnote_176"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_176"><span class="muchsmaller">[176]</span></a> - See note, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 6, <a href="#footnote_8"><abbr title="note">n.</abbr> 2</a>.</p> - -<hr class="short" /> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p2 center"><abbr title="Section Thirteen">§ XIII.</abbr>—<span class="sc">The - Religion of the Philosophers.</span></p> - -<p>In the eleventh chapter, entitled “Of the religion -of the Wise,” we find it repeated that Philosophers -were divided into two great classes: “the -Eastern and the Western.” The first are the -<span class="title">Hushangians</span>, teachers of the Greeks until the time of -Plato and Aristotle; it is believed that their philosophy, -<a name="Page_cliv" id="Page_cliv"></a><span class="pageno">cliv</span> -modified and refined, returned from Greece -to Asia, and was received by the Muhammedan -scholars to be adapted to their own creed. Then -took place a singular mixture and confusion of -Siderism, Judaism, Christianity, Muhammedism, -and all sorts of philosophic opinions. The cosmology -of the Hushangians was preserved. Seven -special prophets, Ismâil, Jesus, Joseph, Enoch, -Aaron, Moses, and Abraham, inhabit the seven -heavens,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_177" id="fnanchor_177"></a><a href="#footnote_177" class="fnanchor">[177]</a></span> -to begin from that of the Moon, which is -the lowest, and rising upwards. If, in general, -ten spheres are assumed,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_178" id="fnanchor_178"></a><a href="#footnote_178" class="fnanchor">[178]</a></span> -they are made the dwellings -of so many intelligences. These ideas, so -<a name="Page_clv" id="Page_clv"></a><span class="pageno">clv</span> -ancient, as we have seen, were not disowned by -eminent men in much later times. The great Kepler, -and after him Reaumur, believed that intelligences -or souls directed the movements of celestial -bodies. Philosophers, struck with the marvellous -order of nature, were adverse to admitting any -mechanism—the very name of which frightened -them; they therefore called all occult powers souls -or spirits. The same idea is adopted in morality: -whatever is praiseworthy is <dfn>angelic</dfn>, whatever blamable, -<dfn>satanic</dfn>. <cite>From goodness arises an angel; from -badness, a Satan</cite>: so said the prophet. Such simple -and truth-like ideas were either originally disguised -under the vest of fiction; or existing traditions of -various origin were afterwards more or less ingeniously -interpreted as allegories. Thus, the ordinary -names, expressions, tenets, traditions, and -practices of the Arabian prophet received symbolic, -allegoric, mystic interpretations. The <dfn>Kabah</dfn> (the -square temple of Mecca), the holy centre of a living, -circumambulating world, becomes an emblem of -the sun; its famous <dfn>black stone</dfn>, hollowed by the -kisses of the pious, represents Venus, the bright -star on the borders of heaven; <dfn>paradise</dfn>, its milk, -honey, wine, <dfn>Tuba</dfn> (tree of beatitude), <dfn>Hur</dfn> and <dfn>Kasur</dfn> -(nymphs and palaces) allude to intellectual delights; -<dfn>hell</dfn>, its <dfn>Zakum</dfn> (tree of nature), and torments, are -explained as unavoidable consequences of depravity. -<a name="Page_clvi" id="Page_clvi"></a><span class="pageno">clvi</span> -Such interpretations of the Muhammedans seem -often to be like their bridge <dfn>Sirat</dfn>, which connects -heaven and hell, <cite>sharp as a razor and thin as a -hair</cite>. <dfn>Transmigration</dfn>, or rather reproduction, is -admitted, although not easily reconciled with the -resurrection of the same body. <dfn>The blasts of the -trumpet</dfn>, and the whole scene of the resurrection lose -their materialism in a sort of rational allegory. <dfn>The -other world</dfn> is the destruction and renovation of nature -at the completion and renewal of great periods -of time, one of which comprised 360,000 solar -years. <dfn>Resurrection</dfn> is “the wakening from the -sleep of heedlessness;” whenever an intellect -attained that degree of perfection, it has returned -to its origin; it is restored to life; this indubitably -happens when nothing material exists: for, “where -there is no body, there is no death.”</p> - -<p>After having treated in this way the great dogmas -of religion, the Muhammedan philosophers found it -not more difficult to rationalise every circumstance -respecting their prophet, he who obeyed the voice -of an invisible speaker. Did Muhammed really -<em>split the moon</em>? Not in the least—splitting is penetrating -from the exterior into the interior; the fissure -of the moon typifies nothing else but the renunciation -of the external for the internal, which is -“the superior wisdom;” who possessed it more -than the prophet (the peace of God be with him!) -<a name="Page_clvii" id="Page_clvii"></a><span class="pageno">clvii</span> -he, the master of the <em>lunar sphere</em>? This, with the -Orientals, is the seat of human intelligence and -perfection.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_179" id="fnanchor_179"></a><a href="#footnote_179" class="fnanchor">[179]</a></span> -One of their greatest scholars, or as -they say “the learned of the world,” known to us -under the name of Avisenna, undertook to give a -reasonable account of Muhammed’s <em>ascent to heaven</em>, -and framed a wonderful romance of mystic spiritualism. -He terminates by explaining how the prophet, -after his return from such a journey, could -find his bed-clothes still warm: “He had travelled -with his mind, and when he had completed his -mental task, returned back to himself, and in less -than an eye’s twinkling recovered his former state; -whoever knows, understands why he went; and -whoever knows not, looks in vain for an explanation.”</p> - -<p>We may, not without interest, observe the natural -process of the human mind in reviewing and reforming -conceptions, the original form of which is -not seldom entirely obliterated. The author of the -Dabistán does more than satiate the most inquisitive -<a name="Page_clviii" id="Page_clviii"></a><span class="pageno">clviii</span> -reader with allegoric, now and then very fanciful, -interpretations, which he continues, not without -repetitions of the same subjects, through the -subsequent chapter, upon which I am about to -touch. Mohsan Fani, here as elsewhere, fails not -to adduce several philosophers of more ancient as -well as of his own times. Among the latter is <span class="person">Hakim -Kamran</span>, whose free and sound opinions, about -the origin of societies and the prophets regulating -them, will be read with some interest; as will also -the account of the books which Kamran read and -explained, whence the state of literature of those -times may be inferred.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_177" id="footnote_177"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_177"><span class="muchsmaller">[177]</span></a> - See (<abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 293, -<a href="#footnote_448">note 1</a>) the seven heavens under particular names, -as given in the Viraf-namah, and the explanation of them. The seven -prophets above-named are somewhat differently distributed by other -authorities. See the notes to Avisenna’s explanation of Muhammed’s -ascent to heaven (<abbr title="volume Three pages">vol. III. pp.</abbr> -186. 189). I shall subjoin the distribution -of the seven prophet-kings, according to the Desátir, and that of -seven Jewish and Christian prophets, according to the notes just -referred to:</p> - -<div class="fn1"> -<table summary=""> -<tr><td class="left"><span class="sc">Planets</span>:</td> - <td class="center" colspan="2"><span class="sc">According to<br />the Desatir.</span></td> - <td class="center" colspan="2"><span class="sc">According to<br />Muhammedan Authorities.</span></td></tr> -<tr><td class="left">Saturn,</td> - <td class="center">Inhabited by</td> - <td class="left">Gilshaw.</td> - <td class="center">Inhabited by</td> - <td class="left">Abraham.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left">Jupiter,</td> - <td class="center">—</td> - <td class="left">Siamok.</td> - <td class="center">—</td> - <td class="left">Moses.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left">Mars,</td> - <td class="center">—</td> - <td class="left">Hushang.</td> - <td class="center">—</td> - <td class="left">Aaron.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left">The Sun,</td> - <td class="center">—</td> - <td class="left">Tahmuras.</td> - <td class="center">—</td> - <td class="left">Idris.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left">Venus,</td> - <td class="center">—</td> - <td class="left">Jemshid.</td> - <td class="center">—</td> - <td class="left">Joseph.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left">Mercury,</td> - <td class="center">—</td> - <td class="left">Feridun.</td> - <td class="center">—</td> - <td class="left">Jesus, St. John.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left">The Moon,</td> - <td class="center">—</td> - <td class="left">Minocheher.</td> - <td class="center">—</td> - <td class="left">Adam.</td></tr> -</table> -</div> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_178" id="footnote_178"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_178"><span class="muchsmaller">[178]</span></a> - See the Cosmology of the Desátir, compared with that of the modern -Orientals, <abbr title="volume Three page">vol. III. p.</abbr> 143, note.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_179" id="footnote_179"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_179"><span class="muchsmaller">[179]</span></a> - According to the Occidental fabulists (see Ariosto’s <span class="title">Orlando Furioso</span>, -canto <abbr title="Thirty-Four">XXXIV</abbr>), the moon holds, in a strait valley between two mountains, -all that mortals lose here below: fame, tears and sighs of lovers, lost -time, futile designs, vain desires, ancient crowns, all instruments of -deceit, treaties, and conspiracies, works of false coiners and knaves, the -good sense of every body, is there bottled; all is there except folly, which -remains below, and never quits the earth:</p> - -<div class="fnpoem2 decoration" lang="it" xml:lang="it"> - <div class="i0">Sol la Pazzia non v’è poca, nè assai,</div> - <div class="i0">Chè stà quaggiù, nè se ne parte mai.</div> -</div> - -<hr class="short" /> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p2 center"><abbr title="Section Fourteen">§ XIV.</abbr>—<span class="sc">The Religion of the Sufis.</span></p> - -<p>We arrive at the last chapter, “<cite>Upon the Sufis</cite>;” -the most abstruse of the twelve, but to which we -are well enough prepared by the contents of the -former.</p> - -<p>Súfism, according to the Dabistán, belongs to all -religions; its adherents are known, under different -names among the Hindus, Persians, and Arabians; -it appears to be nothing else but the rationalism of -any sort of doctrine. It could never be the religion -of a whole nation; it remained confined to the precincts -of schools and societies.</p> - -<p><a name="Page_clix" id="Page_clix"></a><span class="pageno">clix</span> -In the work before us we find it stated, that the -belief of the pure Súfis was the same as that of the -Ashrakians (Platonists): we know what the Muhammedans -have made of it. According to the Imám -Koshairi, quoted by Jâmi,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_180" id="fnanchor_180"></a><a href="#footnote_180" class="fnanchor">[180]</a></span> -the Muselmans, after -Muhammed’s death, distinguished the eminent men -among them by no other title but that of “the -companions of God’s apostle.” These were, in -the second generation, called <span class="title">Tábáyún</span>, “followers.” -Afterwards the Islamites were divided into divers -classes; those among them who particularly devoted -themselves to the practice of religion, were named -“servants of God,” which name was, after the rise -of numerous sects, claimed by some from among all -the different sectaries. It was then that the followers -of the orthodox doctrine, in order to preserve -the purity of their faith and the strength of their -piety, assumed the name of <span class="title">Súfis</span>, which name became -celebrated before the end of the second century -of the Hejira, that is, before the year 815 of -our era. We may believe one of the greatest scholars -of Muhammedism, <span class="person">Ghazáli</span>, who ranged himself -among the Súfis of his time towards the end of our -eleventh century, when he declares that in their -society he found rest in believing one God, the prophet, -<a name="Page_clx" id="Page_clx"></a><span class="pageno">clx</span> -and the last judgment: this is the faith of the -<span class="title">orthodox Súfis</span>.</p> - -<p>The assumption of any particular name carries -men, who so distinguish and separate themselves -from their fellows, much further than they themselves -at first intended, particularly when the distinction -and separation are founded upon vague and -indeterminate notions of metaphysics. Under the -impression, that there are secrets upon which their -salvation depends, they will stretch reason and -imagination to penetrate them. The Súfis are -divided, according to their own -phraseology,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_181" id="fnanchor_181"></a><a href="#footnote_181" class="fnanchor">[181]</a></span> into -three classes: “<dfn>the attracted</dfn>, <dfn>the travellers</dfn>,” and “<dfn>the -attracted travellers</dfn>;” the last of whom combine the -qualities of the two former. I will class them here, -with respect to their doctrine and manners, into -five orders.</p> - -<p>1. The religious Súfis, in general, are occupied -with something beyond the limits of our natural -consciousness; they exercise to the utmost their -inward organ or inner sense, and acquire a philosophic -imagination<span class="lock">—</span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0">“The vision and the faculty divine.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_182" id="fnanchor_182"></a><a href="#footnote_182" class="fnanchor">[182]</a></span></div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">Such was the prophetic gift of Muhammed, and as -<a name="Page_clxi" id="Page_clxi"></a><span class="pageno">clxi</span> -long as they adhere to his sayings, they are <span class="title">the orthodox -Súfis</span>, whom I have already mentioned.</p> - -<p>2. Another order endeavor to comprehend, to -fix, and to explain the attributes of God; the holy -object sanctifies their efforts; unattainable, it exalts -their souls above themselves; incomprehensibility -yields to the sacred power of self-intuition; mysterious -darkness to celestial light; their intellect, no -more terrestrial, “knows its own sun and its own -stars;”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_183" id="fnanchor_183"></a><a href="#footnote_183" class="fnanchor">[183]</a></span> -by continual mental excitement they -produce in themselves (according to their own phraseology) -a state of intoxication; in the full enjoyment -of their liberty, they approach the Supreme -Being, and finally fancy an intimate union with their -Creator. These are the <span class="title">mystic Sufis</span>.</p> - -<p>Man, to express his most fervent adoration of the -Divinity, uses the expressions by which he is wont -to address the object of his most tender affections; -he has but the fire of earth to kindle in sacrifice to -heaven; and to elevate his soul to the Supreme -Being, he makes wings of the most lively sentiments -which he ever experienced, and can excite in himself. -The intensity of inward feeling breaks loose -in outward demonstrations, gesture, song, and -dance<span class="lock">—</span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"><a name="Page_clxii" id="Page_clxii"></a><span class="pageno">clxii</span> -<div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Mystical dance, which yonder starry sphere</div> - <div class="i0">Of planets, and of fix’d, in all her wheels</div> - <div class="i0">Resembles nearest, mazes intricate,</div> - <div class="i0"> Eccentric, intervolv’d, yet regular,</div> - <div class="i0">Then most, when most irregular they seem.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_184" id="fnanchor_184"></a><a href="#footnote_184" class="fnanchor">[184]</a></span></div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>Such in the poet’s eye is the dance of angels, but -less refined must be that of mortals, and really one -sort of it strangely contrasts with the usually grave -deportment of bearded ample-robed Muselmans, -from Muhammed, who gave the example, down to -the Durvishes of our days, who, with frantic -howls and vehement whirling motions, by ludicrous -and unseemly exhibition, destroy the whole gravity -of inward intention. Mohsan Fani adduces some -instances of dancing, and quotes throughout his -work verses of mystical poetry upon Divine love, in -glowing expressions belonging to profane passion. -It is known how equivocal in their meaning they -appear in the works of Jelal eddin Rumi, Sâdi, Hafiz, -and others.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_185" id="fnanchor_185"></a><a href="#footnote_185" class="fnanchor">[185]</a></span></p> - -<p>3. It was not always vehement enthusiasm which -was nourished in the contemplation of one Supreme -Being; mysticism, in Súfis of a milder character, -became <cite>quietism: he to whom all things are one, who -draweth all things to one, and seeth all things in one, may</cite> -<a name="Page_clxiii" id="Page_clxiii"></a><span class="pageno">clxiii</span> -<cite>enjoy peace and rest of spirit</cite>. I have quoted the words -of an English bishop, Jeremy Taylor, and might -borrow similar passages from a more ancient Christian -bishop, Synesius,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_186" id="fnanchor_186"></a><a href="#footnote_186" class="fnanchor">[186]</a></span> -for expressing a sort of -purely <dfn>spiritual pantheism</dfn>. But there is another, -which seems not to exclude materialism: the great -cause from which the infinite series of all material -and spiritual existences originates, is enveloped, as -it were, with the vest of the universe; never known -as to its essence, but always felt in its manifestations; -it is</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0">“All in all, and all in every part.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_187" id="fnanchor_187"></a><a href="#footnote_187" class="fnanchor">[187]</a></span></div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>In short, God is all, and all is God. This appeared -not more incomprehensible, but less complicated -than any other system to the <dfn>pantheistical -Súfis</dfn>.</p> - -<p>4. After excessive efforts to transcend the limits -of his nature, the philosophic inquirer re-enters -into himself, and coerces his futile attempts by the -precept: “Know thyself.” Having, as it were, -recovered himself, and feeling that every thing proceeds -from the depth of his mind, he sees himself -in every thing; heaven and earth are his own; “he -demands from himself whatever he wishes;” for -he is every thing; he finds the God whom he sought -<a name="Page_clxiv" id="Page_clxiv"></a><span class="pageno">clxiv</span> -in himself, in his own heart, and says, “Who -knows himself, knows God.” This is religious -psychology, the creed of the <dfn>egotist class of Súfis</dfn>.</p> - -<p>It is a fact which appears incredible, but is too -well attested for the admission of a doubt, that Súfis -believed themselves to be gods, and adhered to their -belief, amid torments, until death.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_188" id="fnanchor_188"></a><a href="#footnote_188" class="fnanchor">[188]</a></span> -This psychological -fact may be explained by considering that, -according to Súfism, God is nothing else but an -idea of the highest perfection; <cite>he</cite>, says our author, -<cite>from whose sight both worlds vanished, who in the steps -of right faith arrived at the rank of perfect purity, from -truth to truth, became God</cite>; that is, he became one -with his own idea of perfection, which cannot be -disputed to him; his divinity is an illusion, but nothing -else to him is the world; it is all and nothing, -dependent upon his own creation and annihilation.</p> - -<p><abbr title="Five">V.</abbr> Transacting as it were directly with the Divine -Being, the Súfis throw off the shackles of the positive -religion; pious rebels, they neither fast nor -make pilgrimages to the temple of Mecca, nay, they -forget their prayers; for with God there is no other -but the soundless language of the heart. From -excess of religion they have no religion at all. Thus -is confirmed the trite saying that “extremes meet.” -“<cite>The perfection of a man’s state</cite>,” says Jami, “<cite>and the -utmost degree to which saints may attain, is to be without</cite> -<a name="Page_clxv" id="Page_clxv"></a><span class="pageno">clxv</span> -<cite>an attribute, and without a mark</cite>.” The most -fervent zeal sinks into the coldest indifference about -religion. The author of the Dabistán declares positively,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_189" id="fnanchor_189"></a><a href="#footnote_189" class="fnanchor">[189]</a></span> -that “whoever says that the Muselmans -are above the Christians, does not know the true -Being.” But the whole creed of an <em>emancipated</em> -(this is the name I give to one belonging to the fifth -order of Súfis) uniting in himself the egotist, pantheistic, -and mystical Súfi will be found in the following -verses of Jelal-eddin Rúmi, before mentioned:</p> - -<p class="blockquote"><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_190" id="fnanchor_190"></a><a href="#footnote_190" class="fnanchor">[190]</a></span>“O -Moslims! what is to be done? I do not know myself; -I am neither Jew, nor Christian, nor Gueber, nor Moslim; I -am not from the East nor from the West; nor from land nor -sea; neither from the region of nature nor from that of heaven; -not from Hind nor China; not from Bulgaria nor -Irak, nor from the towns of Khorassan. I am neither -water nor dust, wind nor fire; not from the highest nor -deepest, neither self-existent nor created; I am not from -the two worlds, no son of Adam, not from hell nor from -heaven, nor paradise. He is the first, the last, the interior, -the exterior; I know but him, Yahu! Yahu! Menhu! I -looked up, and saw both worlds to be one; I see but one—I -seek but one—I know but one. My station is without -space, my mark without impression; it is not soul nor -body; I am the soul of souls. If I had passed one single -day without thee, I would repent to have lived one single -hour. When one day the friend stretches out his hand -<a name="Page_clxvi" id="Page_clxvi"></a><span class="pageno">clxvi</span> -to me in solitude, I tread the worlds under my feet, and -open my hands. O Shams Tabrizi,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_191" id="fnanchor_191"></a><a href="#footnote_191" class="fnanchor">[191]</a></span> -I am so intoxicated -here that, except intoxication, no other remedy remains -to me.”</p> - -<p>We know, by the preceding, what the Súfi is not; -we shall now learn what he is.</p> - -<p class="blockquote">“O Moslims! I am intoxicated by love in the world. I -am a believer—an unbeliever—a drunken monk; I am the -Shaikhs Bayazid, Shubli, Juneid, Abu Hanifa, Shafei, -Hanbeli; I the throne and tent of heaven, from the dust -up to the Pleyads; I am whatever thou seest in separation -and enjoyment; I am the distance of two -bows-length<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_193" id="fnanchor_193"></a><a href="#footnote_193" class="fnanchor">[193]</a></span> -around the throne; I am the Gospel, the Psalter, the -Koran; I am <span class="title">Usa</span> and -<span class="title">Lat</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_194" id="fnanchor_194"></a><a href="#footnote_194" class="fnanchor">[194]</a></span> -the cross, the <span class="title">Bál</span> and -<span class="title">Dagon</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_195" id="fnanchor_195"></a><a href="#footnote_195" class="fnanchor">[195]</a></span> -the Kâbah, and the place of sacrifice. The world is divided -into seventy-and-two sects, but there is but one God; the -believer in him am I; I am the lie, the truth, the good, the -evil, the hard and the soft, science, solitude, virtue, faith, -the deepest pit of hell, the greatest torment of flames, the -highest paradise, Huri, Risvan,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_196" id="fnanchor_196"></a><a href="#footnote_196" class="fnanchor">[196]</a></span> -am I. What is the intent -<a name="Page_clxvii" id="Page_clxvii"></a><span class="pageno">clxvii</span> -of this speech? Say it, O Shams Tabrizi! The intended -meaning is: I am the soul of the world.”</p> - -<p>After having sounded human nature in its depth, -and viewed it in its various forms, the Muhammedan -philosophers conceived a high idea of man in -general, and call him <dfn>insan kamil</dfn>, “the perfect man.” -He is the reunion of all the worlds, divine and naturaf, -universal and partial; he the book, the pure, -sublime, and venerable pages of which are not to be -touched, nor can be comprehended, but by those -who have thrown off the dark veils of ignorance. -His soul is to his body what the universal soul is to -the great world, which bears the name of “the -great man.”</p> - -<p>Sir William Jones refers,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_197" id="fnanchor_197"></a><a href="#footnote_197" class="fnanchor">[197]</a></span> -for a particular detail -of Súfi metaphysics and theology, to the Dabistán. -These are given with a particular phraseology, for -which it is not easy to find corresponding expressions -in any European language; and which I have -endeavored, to the best of my power, to explain in -my notes. A particular signification is attached -even to the most common terms, such as state, -station, time, duration, existence, non-existence, -possibility, presence, absence, testimony, sanctity, -annihilation, etc., etc. Besides, we find particular -divisions and classifications: different attributions -<a name="Page_clxviii" id="Page_clxviii"></a><span class="pageno">clxviii</span> -and names of the Deity, the unity of which is to be -preserved in all; the division of spirits, prophetism, -true and false miracles, revelation, inspiration; four -sorts of mankind, as many of life and death; seven -degrees of contemplative life, in each of which degrees -the Súfi sees a different color; four lights of -God; four sorts of manifestations, the sign of which -is annihilation, called “the science,” or “positive -knowledge.” Further we meet with a metempsychosis -for the imperfect soul, and an <em>appearance</em> -for the perfect; even with a geography of the invisible, -the land of shades in the towns of <span class="place">Jabilkha</span>, -<span class="place">Jabilsa</span>, and <span class="place">Barzah</span>, etc., etc.; and, in addition, -manifo I pinions of Asiatic philosophy.</p> - -<p>Here should be pointed out how Muhammedan or -other Súfis may be confounded with the Hindu Yogis -or Sanyásis, although in reality distinguishable from -each other. The Yajur veda, and other sacred books -of the latter inculcate the precept that a man ought -to acquire perfect indifference concerning the whole -exterior world, and in all places to lay aside the -notion of diversity. This is what a Yogi or Sanyasi -endeavors to attain: he quits every thing, house, -wife, children, even his <em>caste</em>; the world has no -more right upon him than he upon the world. In -this he agrees with the Súfi; but the latter generally -aspires to the divine gift of inspiration, prophetism, -mystical enthusiasm, whilst the common -<a name="Page_clxix" id="Page_clxix"></a><span class="pageno">clxix</span> -state of a Yogi is that of complete impassiveness or -torpor.</p> - -<p>It is only towards the end of the Dabistán that -Mohsan Fani mentions particularly the <span class="title">Sabeans</span>, -whose religion was, from the very beginning of the -work, treated of under different names of the ancient -Persian religions, such as <span class="title">Yezdanians</span>, Jamsaspians, -etc., etc.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_180" id="footnote_180"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_180"><span class="muchsmaller">[180]</span></a> - See <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Journal des Savans, décembre 1821</cite>, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> -721, 722, <cite><abbr title="article">art.</abbr> de Silvestre -de Sacy</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_181" id="footnote_181"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_181"><span class="muchsmaller">[181]</span></a> - The <span class="title">Sálik</span>, <span class="title">Mejezub</span>, - and <span class="title">Mejezub Salik</span>. (See A Treatise on Sufism, -or Muhammedan Mysticism, by lieutenant J. William Graham. In the -<abbr title="Transactions of the Literary Society">Transact. of the Lit. Soc.</abbr> - of Bombay, <abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> 99, 1811.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_182" id="footnote_182"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_182"><span class="muchsmaller">[182]</span></a> - Wordsworth.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_183" id="footnote_183"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_183"><span class="muchsmaller">[183]</span></a> -</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="fnpoem"> - <div class="i0" lang="la" xml:lang="la">“— — — Solemque suum, sua sidera norunt.”</div> - <div class="i6"><cite>Æneis</cite>, <abbr title="chapter Six verse">c. VI. v.</abbr> 641.</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_184" id="footnote_184"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_184"><span class="muchsmaller">[184]</span></a> - Milton’s Paradise Lost, <abbr title="Volume five, verses">V., v.</abbr> 620-624.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_185" id="footnote_185"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_185"><span class="muchsmaller">[185]</span></a> - The two first give their name to the mystic and moral age; from -1203 to 1300; the third to that of the highest splendor of Persian lyrical -poetry and rhetoric, from 1300 to 1397 of our era.—(See <cite lang="de" xml:lang="de">Schöne Redekünste -Persiens Von Joseph Von Hammer, Wien</cite>, 1818.)</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_186" id="footnote_186"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_186"><span class="muchsmaller">[186]</span></a> - He was born in Cyrene, in Africa, towards the end of our fourth -century, and died, about 430, bishop of Ptolemais.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_187" id="footnote_187"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_187"><span class="muchsmaller">[187]</span></a> - Cowley.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_188" id="footnote_188"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_188"><span class="muchsmaller">[188]</span></a> - See <abbr title="volume Three page">vol. III. p.</abbr> 291 <abbr title="note">n.</abbr> 1.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_189" id="footnote_189"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_189"><span class="muchsmaller">[189]</span></a> - See <abbr title="volume Three pages">vol. III. pp.</abbr> 123 <abbr title="note">n.</abbr> 4; 293 <abbr title="note">n.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_190" id="footnote_190"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_190"><span class="muchsmaller">[190]</span></a> - I follow the German translation of Baron von Hammer, <cite>loco cit.</cite>, -<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 189.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_191" id="footnote_191"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_191"><span class="muchsmaller">[191]</span></a> - Shams-eddin Tabrisi, whom Jelal-eddin names at the end of nearly -all his lyric poems, is said to have been the son of Khuand Ala-eddin, -chief of the Assassins (Ismâilahs). He gained a great celebrity as a Súfi -and a saint. From Tabriz, from which town he took his surname, he came -to Konia; there Jelal-eddin chose him for his spiritual guide, and remained -attached to him all his life, which terminated A. D. 1262. Shams-eddin -survived him. The tombs of the master and disciple, near each other in -Konia, are even in our days objects of veneration to pious Muselmans.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_192" id="footnote_192"></a> - <span class="muchsmaller">[192]</span> - <cite>Ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 191,</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_193" id="footnote_193"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_193"><span class="muchsmaller">[193]</span></a> - The distance to which Muhammed approached God in heaven.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_194" id="footnote_194"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_194"><span class="muchsmaller">[194]</span></a> - Two Arabian idols, the Dusares and Allitta of Herodotus.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_195" id="footnote_195"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_195"><span class="muchsmaller">[195]</span></a> - Syrian deities.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_196" id="footnote_196"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_196"><span class="muchsmaller">[196]</span></a> - The guardian of paradise.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_197" id="footnote_197"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_197"><span class="muchsmaller">[197]</span></a> - In his Treatise on the mystical poetry of the Persians and Hindus: -<abbr title="volume Four">vol. IV.</abbr> of his Works, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 232.</p> - -<hr class="short" /> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p2 center"><abbr title="Section Fifteen">§ XV.</abbr>—<span class="sc">Recapitulation of the contents of the -Dabistan.</span></p> - -<p>Thus I have indicated the principal contents of the -Dabistán. Considering the philosophic opinions -touched upon, we may remark that truth, although -in different times and places variously colored, veiled, -sometimes mutilated, often running into falsehood, -is nevertheless widely diffused, inasmuch as it reappears -in the concurring declarations of the greatest -thinkers of all times. Thus, among the notions -of the Asiatics, we find implied the sense of the -<span lang="el" xml:lang="el">ἐντελέχεια</span> (<dfn>entelechia</dfn>) of Aristotle, this untranslatable -word,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_198" id="fnanchor_198"></a><a href="#footnote_198" class="fnanchor">[198]</a></span> -which however can but signify “some continued -<a name="Page_clxx" id="Page_clxx"></a><span class="pageno">clxx</span> -and perennial motion,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_199" id="fnanchor_199"></a><a href="#footnote_199" class="fnanchor">[199]</a></span> -activity, moving -force, perfection, principle of things”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_200" id="fnanchor_200"></a><a href="#footnote_200" class="fnanchor">[200]</a></span>—we -find -<em>time</em> and <em>space</em>, the necessary substrata of all our -notions, as taught by the Kantians—the want of -substantial reality in the objects of senses, maintained -by the sceptics in general—the prototypes -and ideas of the Pythagoreans and Platonists—the -necessary connections of all things of the Stoics—the -atomic doctrine of Moschus, Leucippus, Democritus, -Empedocles, etc.—the universality of sensation -and life of the Hermetites—the preformation -and pre-existence of the soul, alleged by Synesius, -Leibnitz, and others—the successive transformation, -transmigration, gradual perfection of beings; the periodical -renovation of the world professed by many -Greek schools—the palingenesis of Bonnet—the <em>one</em> -and the <em>all</em> of Parmenides, Plotinus, Synesius, Spinoza, -not to omit the refined Egoismus of Fichte, -etc., etc. I shall not proceed further in the enumeration -of opinions ascribed in the Dabistán to -different sects, and reproduced in the doctrine of -<a name="Page_clxxi" id="Page_clxxi"></a><span class="pageno">clxxi</span> -celebrated ancient and modern philosophers of Europe. -Who will realize that criterion of true philosophy -indicated by the great Leibnitz, namely, -that which would at once collect and explain the -fragments of truth scattered through all, and apparently -the most incongruous, systems?</p> - -<p>This is perhaps the prize to be gained, not by one -mortal, but by a series of generations, in a laborious -task, so often interrupted and recommenced, but -never abandoned. The struggle of the human mind -is without term, but not without aim. We see -two principal movers of human intellect—<span class="muchsmaller">PHILOSOPHY</span> -and <span class="muchsmaller">RELIGION</span>. The one employs reason as a -sufficient power for the solution of a solvable problem, -which comprehends knowledge, morality, -and civilisation. The other distrusts reason, and -relies upon a supernatural power for the revelation -of a secret, or for the word of an enigma, which -relates to a destination beyond the bounds of this -world. The philosopher, self-confident, is liable -to error for various reasons; but always capable of -correction and improvement, in the only possible -way, that of self-activity, the virtuous exertions of -his faculties towards attainable perfection in his -whole condition. The religionist is exposed to -deception by his gratuitous faith in superhuman -guidance, and, if mistaken, is precluded from regress -and improvement by his essential virtue, fidelity; -<a name="Page_clxxii" id="Page_clxxii"></a><span class="pageno">clxxii</span> -that is, the pious surrender of his soul to a -spiritual and mystical sovereignty. The Dabistán -shows us more religionists than philosophers; it is -the school of sects, or rather that of inveterate -superstition, with which, in spite of the correctives -which human nature affords to its errors, the general -character of the Asiatics remains stamped, from -time immemorial to the present day.</p> - -<p>Although the twelve chapters of the Dabistán -bear the titles of as many religions, the author says -himself, at the end of his work, that there are only -<em>five</em> great religions—those of the Hindus, Persians, -Jews, Nazareans, and Muselmans. He no where -mentions the Egyptians nor the Chinese, apparently -because, in his times and long before, no trace of the -Egyptian religion existed, although it certainly had -once occupied a great circle of influence, and because -the Chinese creed was known to be Buddhism.</p> - -<p>The five religions mentioned constitute indeed so -many bases, upon which the whole creed of mankind -has been, and remains founded. They comprise, in -general, <dfn>polytheism</dfn> and <dfn>monotheism</dfn>. In all times and -places, the religion of the “Enlightened” was distinguished -from that of the “Vulgar;” the first as -interior, being the product of universal reason, was -every where nearly uniform; the second, as exterior, -being composed of particular and arbitrary -<a name="Page_clxxiii" id="Page_clxxiii"></a><span class="pageno">clxxiii</span> -rites and ceremonies, varied according to the influence -of the climate, and the character, history, and -civilisation of a people. But, in the course of time, -no religion remained entirely the same, either in -principle or form. Polytheism, by mere simplification, -tended to monotheism; this itself, in its -awful incomprehensibility, was modified according -as it originated, or assumed its notions, from anthropomorphism, -hylozoism, spiritualism, or pantheism. -Nor did any religion remain simple and pure, as -proceeding from only one principle; all religious -ideas, elemental, sidereal, allegorical, symbolical, -mystical, philosophical, and others were mixed, as -well as all sorts of worship interwoven. It is now -impossible to range in chronological order their rise -and transition into different forms. Still the one -or the other of these kinds predominated: thus -<dfn>physiolatry</dfn>, or “the adoration of personified nature,” -in India; <dfn>astrolatry</dfn>, or “the worship of stars,” in -Arabia and Iran; none of the religions entirely disclaimed -<dfn>monotheism</dfn>, which was positively and exclusively -professed in Judaism, Christianity, and -Muhammedanism.</p> - -<p>Magism and the three last-named religions were -founded or modified by holy personages, or prophets, -that is, by individuals whose historical existence -in more or less remote times is positively -fixed; Hinduism alone acknowledges <span class="title">Manu</span> as an ideal -<a name="Page_clxxiv" id="Page_clxxiv"></a><span class="pageno">clxxiv</span> -or mythological person, whose laws are however -derived from Brahma himself. This may perhaps -be assumed as a proof of its remotest antiquity; and -India, having been less disturbed by invasions, and -conquered in much later times by foreign nations, -preserved its institutes complete in their originality. -There is scarcely a tenet to be found in any other -creed which does not, at least in its germ, exist in -the Hindu religion.</p> - -<p>It is most remarkable that, although men revered -as divine messengers of religion have existed, still -the works containing the heaven-sent doctrine are, -either not at all or not incontestably, ascribed to -them; and in any case devolved upon posterity in a -more or less corrupted and mutilated state; so as to -entail for ever an inexhaustible subject of dispute, a -heavy task for belief, and severe trial of faith. If -the Vedas are the best preserved, it is to no general -purpose, inasmuch as they are the least -known and most obscure. These facts the author -of the Dabistán has set in full light, and -says,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_201" id="fnanchor_201"></a><a href="#footnote_201" class="fnanchor">[201]</a></span> as -it were to tranquillise mankind with regard to the -multifarious inheritance of their prophets: “The -varieties and multitudes of the rules of prophets -proceed only from the plurality of names; and as -in names there is no mutual opposition or contradiction, -the superiority in rank among them is -<a name="Page_clxxv" id="Page_clxxv"></a><span class="pageno">clxxv</span> -only the predominance of a name. To this I subjoin -another passage, although it occurs in connection -with another subject:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_202" id="fnanchor_202"></a><a href="#footnote_202" class="fnanchor">[202]</a></span> -“The time of a prophet -is a universal one, having neither priority nor -posteriority—neither morning nor evening:” -that is, if I understand these words: As the same -sun ever shines upon us, so shines the same wisdom -of all times, incorruptible in its divine source.</p> - -<p>If we take a rapid comparative view of the principal -features of the five religions mentioned, we find -<em>emanation of all beings, intellectual and material, from -one great source</em>, to be the fundamental and characteristic -dogma of Hinduism, established and developed -in the most explicit and positive manner. -<em>The division of supernatural beings in good and bad</em> is -adopted in the five religions, but in Magism it is of -a somewhat different origin: for Ahriman and his -host are not rebellious or fallen good genii; they -are an original creation. <em>A primitive innocence and -posterior corruption</em> is generally believed; but by the -Hindus as coming from riches and abundance, by -the other nations as caused by seduction of the bad -spirits. <em>The destruction of mankind by a deluge</em> is no -part of the Persian creed; it occurs in the Indian -as one of the past periodical renovations of the -world, which are to be followed by others, and is -also admitted by the Persians, whilst the Jews, -<a name="Page_clxxvi" id="Page_clxxvi"></a><span class="pageno">clxxvi</span> -Christians, and Muhammedans believe a deluge not -very ancient, as a punishment of human depravity. -<em>Incarnations of the Deity for the benefit of mankind</em>, are -believed only by Hindus and Christians; to the -latter belongs exclusively the dogma of <em>a propitiatory -sacrifice. Human souls, immaterial</em>, have pre-existence -according to the Vedas and the Zand-Avesta; in the -first, as parts of the Divinity; in the latter, as created -in their <dfn>fervers</dfn>, or “pre-established ideals” at the -beginning of the world. <dfn>Transmigration</dfn> is taught -in the sacred books of the Hindus and Persians. -<em>The immortality of the soul, reserved to future beatitude -or damnation</em>, is maintained generally, less positively, -by the ancient Jews; the righteous are cheered by -the prospect of the same heaven, the wicked threatened -by the same punishments, which are held to -be eternal by Christians and Muhammedans; the -Hindus and Persians place the future life in a long -series of purifications or <dfn>purgatories</dfn>, leading, howsoever -late, finally to heaven, to which, according -to the first, the most perfect only are admitted immediately -after their terrestrial life, and are not to -be born again, except by their own choice. <em>The -resurrection with the same body, and the last judgment</em>, -are among the most essential tenets of the Magi, -Christians, and Muhammedans; the other world is -vaguely represented among the ancient Hebrews. -It is just to attribute to the Persians exclusively one -<a name="Page_clxxvii" id="Page_clxxvii"></a><span class="pageno">clxxvii</span> -of the most beautiful personifications that was ever -imagined:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_203" id="fnanchor_203"></a><a href="#footnote_203" class="fnanchor">[203]</a></span> -the soul of the deceased meets at the -bridge of eternity an apparition either of an attractive -or repulsive form; “Who art thou?” asks the -uncertain spirit, and hears the answer: “I am thy -life.”</p> - -<p>Although the variety and multitude of human -conceptions may appear boundless, yet they may -perhaps be reduced to a few fundamental principles. -In general, there is one object common to all sorts -of religion: this is to detach man from gross sensual -matters, and to accustom him to hold converse -with holy supernatural beings, guides to salvation, -<em>omnipresent</em> witnesses of all his actions, remunerators -of good, punishers of bad deeds; the belief in -such beings, one or more, is in fact the most -essential support of morality, which, being fixed in -each individual, insures the peace and happiness of -all. In short, the most important object of all -religion is to ennoble, refine, and sanctify man’s -inmost thoughts and feelings, as well as his exterior -actions. No wonder, that the same virtues are -recommended by all religions.</p> - -<p>But, if these virtues be the same as to names, -there is a great difference as to their practical application. -Thus, the Hindus, tending excessively to -the extinction of sensual propensities, and a contemplative -<a name="Page_clxxviii" id="Page_clxxviii"></a><span class="pageno">clxxviii</span> -life, destroy spontaneity, and produce -apathy. The Persians recommend more practical -virtues. Both nations, however, as well as the -Jews and Muhammedans, are subject to a great -number of dietetical and ritual observances, which -divert them from useful activity, confine their practical -sense, and render inert the innate perfectibility, -the most precious prerogative of mankind. Among -all the Asiatic nations, considered in this work, -theocracy, that is, the junction of the religious and -civil laws, doubles the power of despotism, and -commands equally the spiritual and material, the -present and the future world. The Western Christians -were in the course of time fortunate enough -to modify the <em>Asiatic</em> morals, to enlarge the circle of -civilization, and to open to themselves a boundless -prospect of progressive knowledge, morality, and -happiness.</p> - -<p>Finally, there is one idea common as an adjunct to -the five religions of mankind. Common are their -failings, common their sufferings, common is also -their consolation—hope. Always regretting a purity, -simplicity, and independence, supposed to have been -lost in the past, because not to be found any where -in the present, and never exempt from oppression, -men look to the future, and listen gladly to the -promise of universal reform and restoration to one -rule, which each religionist says, will be his own, -<a name="Page_clxxix" id="Page_clxxix"></a><span class="pageno">clxxix</span> -to be effected among the Hindus by <span class="title">Kalki</span>, an incarnation -of Brahma<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_204" id="fnanchor_204"></a><a href="#footnote_204" class="fnanchor">[204]</a></span>, -among the other nations by the -reappearance of their respective <span class="title">prophet</span>, <span class="title">Messiah</span>, -<span class="title">Mahdi</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i2">“And then shall come,</div> - <div class="i0">When the world’s dissolution shall be ripe,</div> - <div class="i0">With glory and pow’r to judge both quick and dead,</div> - <div class="i0">To judge th’ unfaithful dead, but to reward</div> - <div class="i0">His faithful, and receive them into bliss,</div> - <div class="i0">Whether in Heav’n or Earth, for then the Earth</div> - <div class="i0">Shall all be Paradise.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_205" id="fnanchor_205"></a><a href="#footnote_205" class="fnanchor">[205]</a></span></div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_198" id="footnote_198"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_198"><span class="muchsmaller">[198]</span></a> - Hermelaus Barbaro relates that, finding the interpretation of that -word so difficult, he one night invoked the devil for assistance. The old -scoffer did not fail to appear, but told him a word still more unintelligible -than the Greek. Hermolaus at last brought forth the strange term -<dfn>perfectihabia</dfn>, which, I think, nobody adopted.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_199" id="footnote_199"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_199"><span class="muchsmaller">[199]</span></a> - Cicero circumscribes the word: <cite lang="la" xml:lang="la">Quasi quandam continuatam motionem -et perennem</cite> (<cite><abbr title="Tusculanae Quaestiones">Tusc. Quæst.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="One">I.</abbr> 10). Budæus translates it <span class="trans">efficacia</span>.—(On -this subject see <cite lang="la" xml:lang="la">Thesaurus Græcæ linguæ ab <abbr title="Henrico">Henr.</abbr> Stephano constructus</cite>, -new <abbr title="edition">edit.</abbr>, Paris, 1838.)</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_200" id="footnote_200"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_200"><span class="muchsmaller">[200]</span></a> - Leibnitz (<abbr title="Opera tome Two part Two page">Op. t. II. p. II. p.</abbr> 53; -<abbr title="tome Three page">t. III. p.</abbr> 321), after having said, -that to the material mass must be added some superior principle, which -may be called <em>formal</em>, concludes: “This principle of things, whether -we call it <dfn>entelechia</dfn>, or ‘force,’ is of no matter, provided we recollect -that it can only be explained by the notion of force.”</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_201" id="footnote_201"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_201"><span class="muchsmaller">[201]</span></a> - <abbr title="Volume Three page">Vol. III. p.</abbr> 276.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_202" id="footnote_202"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_202"><span class="muchsmaller">[202]</span></a> - <cite>Ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 289.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_203" id="footnote_203"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_203"><span class="muchsmaller">[203]</span></a> - <abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> <a href="#Page_286">286.</a></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_204" id="footnote_204"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_204"><span class="muchsmaller">[204]</span></a> - <abbr title="volume two page">vol. II. p.</abbr> 24, and <cite>Vishnu-purana</cite>, - <abbr title="translation">transl.</abbr> of Wilson, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 484.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_205" id="footnote_205"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_205"><span class="muchsmaller">[205]</span></a> - Milton’s Paradise Lost, <abbr title="Twelve, verses">XII. v.</abbr> 458-464.</p> - -<hr class="short" /> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h3 class="p2 h3head">PART <abbr title="Three">III.</abbr></h3> - -<h4 class="h4head">CONCLUSION.</h4> - -<p class="p2 center"><abbr title="section">§</abbr> <span class="sc">General -appreciation of the Dabistan and its -Author.</span></p> - -<p class="p2">Mohsan Fáni collected in the Dabistán, as I hope -to have shown by a rapid review of its principal contents, -various important information concerning -religions of different times and countries. His -accounts are generally clear, explicit, and deserving -<a name="Page_clxxx" id="Page_clxxx"></a><span class="pageno">clxxx</span> -confidence; they agree in the most material points -with those of other accredited authors. Thus, to -quote one more instance, the accuracy of his topographic -information relative to the marvellous fountain -in Kachmir is in the main confirmed by that -published by Bernier who had visited the country. -Our author enlivens his text by interesting quotations -from the works of famous poets and philosophers, -and by frequent references to books which -deserve to be known. I beg to mention the <dfn>Tabsaret -al âvam</dfn>, “Rendering quick-sighted the Vulgar,” -which he regrets not to have before his eyes. His -whole work is interspersed with anecdotes and -sayings, characteristic of individuals and sects -which existed in his times. To what he relates from -personal observation or other sources, he frequently -adds reflections of his own, which evince a sagacious -and enlightened mind. Thus, he exhibits in -himself an interesting example of Asiatic erudition -and philosophy.</p> - -<p>The Dabistán adds, if I am not mistaken, not -only a few ideas to our historical knowledge, but -also some features to the picture which we hitherto -possessed of the Asiatics. May I be permitted to -quote a remarkable instance relative to the latter? -We are wont to speak of the inherent apathy and -stationary condition of the Muhammedans, as an -effect of their legislation. Although this general idea -<a name="Page_clxxxi" id="Page_clxxxi"></a><span class="pageno">clxxxi</span> -of their character and state be not unfounded, yet it -is carried to such an exaggerated degree, that we -think them incapable of progress. We may therefore -be astonished to find in the work before -us<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_206" id="fnanchor_206"></a><a href="#footnote_206" class="fnanchor">[206]</a></span> a -maxim such as this: “He who does not proceed, -retrogrades,” and beside a declaration attributed to -Muhammed himself: “He whose days are alike is -deceived.” Our author, it is true, interprets it in -the particular point of view of an orthodox Súfi, -who thinks that there is a degree of mental perfection, -beyond which it is impossible to rise: this -was, he says, the state of Muhammed, the prophet, -always the same, from which no ascent nor descent -was possible, the perfection of unity with God, -higher than whom nothing can be: <em>the blackness beyond -which no color can go</em>. With the exception of these -fits of mysticism, now and then occurring, it is just -to say that Mohsan Fani most commonly leans to -the side of progressive reform.</p> - -<p>For the just appreciation of his work, I think it -necessary to point out another opinion, which, very -generally entertained, requires to be considerably -modified: I mean that which attributes to the Muhammedans -an unrestrained intolerance in religious -matters. On that account, I beg to refer directly -to the book, which to them always was the sacred -source of all rules and precepts of conduct—the -<a name="Page_clxxxii" id="Page_clxxxii"></a><span class="pageno">clxxxii</span> -Koran. In this astonishing farrago of truth and -falsehood, we find here and there a great extent of -toleration. In fact, Muhammedism was eclectic in -all the religious ideas of its time, Magian, Jewish, and -Christian. Muhammed avowed himself to be “a -man like every body;”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_207" id="fnanchor_207"></a><a href="#footnote_207" class="fnanchor">[207]</a></span> -he did not pretend, that -“the treasures of God were in his power,” nor did -he say “that he knew the secrets of God, neither -that he was an angel; no; he thought only to -follow what was revealed to -him,”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_208" id="fnanchor_208"></a><a href="#footnote_208" class="fnanchor">[208]</a></span> so much -every body else may say and think, He professed -his good-will to Christians, “as inclinable -to entertain friendship for the true believers;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_209" id="fnanchor_209"></a><a href="#footnote_209" class="fnanchor">[209]</a></span> he -exhorted his followers not to dispute, but in the -mildest manner,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_210" id="fnanchor_210"></a><a href="#footnote_210" class="fnanchor">[210]</a></span> -against those who have received -the Scripture, and wished to come to a just determination -between both parties, that they all -worshipped not any but God.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_211" id="fnanchor_211"></a><a href="#footnote_211" class="fnanchor">[211]</a></span>—“Abraham,” -said he, “was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but -one resigned unto God (Moslim); excellence is in -the hand of God; he gives it unto whom he -pleaseth.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_212" id="fnanchor_212"></a><a href="#footnote_212" class="fnanchor">[212]</a></span>—Still -more; the prophet seems to -give a general license to the professors of every -<a name="Page_clxxxiii" id="Page_clxxxiii"></a><span class="pageno">clxxxiii</span> -religion to observe certain rites about which he -prohibits all disputes;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_213" id="fnanchor_213"></a><a href="#footnote_213" class="fnanchor">[213]</a></span> -nay, he declares: “If the -Lord had pleased, verily, all who are in the earth -would have believed in general. Wilt thou therefore -forcibly compel men to be true believers? No -soul can believe but by the permission of God.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_214" id="fnanchor_214"></a><a href="#footnote_214" class="fnanchor">[214]</a></span></p> - -<p>Although the Arabian prophet and his followers -too often gave by their conduct a strong denial to -these principles, still the existence of them in the -Koran was a sanction to all those who were disposed -to profess them in words and actions. Such sentiments -of religious toleration are in accordance with -similar ones expressed in many Christian moral -treatises, but in none of the latter do I remember -to have read: “that the diversities of religions distributed -among nations, according to the exigency -of each, are manifestations of the divine light -and power, and that these various forms, by which -God’s inscrutable essence may be viewed by -glimpses, are means of possessing eternal beatitude, -whilst here below the acquisition of knowledge -is sufficient to insure to mankind the -enjoyment of concord, friendship, and agreeable -intercourse.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_215" id="fnanchor_215"></a><a href="#footnote_215" class="fnanchor">[215]</a></span></p> - -<p>These appear to be the maxims adopted by the -<a name="Page_clxxxiv" id="Page_clxxxiv"></a><span class="pageno">clxxxiv</span> -Súfis, and particularly by those among them who, -under Akbar, professed to be <span class="title">Ilahians</span>. The creed -of this class exists in our days, although the name -has not survived. To these we may suppose, if to -any, Mohsan Fáni belonged. If we could agree -with Erskine that “he was in strict intimacy with -the sect of enthusiasts by whom the Desátir was -venerated,” we should still be obliged to avow, -that his enthusiasm had not in the least influenced -his free judgment upon religious matters. His imagination -although justly exalted by sublime notions -of the Divinity, certainly appears now and then bewildered -by the mysterious action of unknown causes; -but on other occasions pointing out, in a satirical -vein, so many follies, absurdities, and extravagances -prevailing among mankind, he seems to laugh at all -enthusiasm whatsoever, his own not excepted. In -general, there breathes in his words a spirit of independence, -which would command attention even -among us in the accustomed circle of long-established -liberty. His boldness in religious controversy startled -even sir W. Jones so much that, in characterising -it by the harsh term of <em>blasphemy</em>, the English -judge appears for a moment ready to plead for the -abettors of popular superstition, who stood confounded -before the tribunal of the philosophic -Akbar.</p> - -<p>I shall however not conceal, that Mohsan Fani -<a name="Page_clxxxv" id="Page_clxxxv"></a><span class="pageno">clxxxv</span> -sometimes paid tribute to the prevailing ignorance -and inveterate prejudices of his time, and above all, -to the sovereign power of early impressions; nor -that, although in many respects he offers in himself -an honorable exception to the general character of -his countrymen, he now and then confounds himself -with them. Thus, he was far from being above -all popular superstition. The Asiatic, from the -dawn of his reason, is nourished with the marvellous, -trained to credulity, and prepared for mysticism, -the bane of practical life; in short, he imbibes -from his infancy a superstition from which he never -frees himself, always prone to interpret every unusual -phenomenon as a miracle. No sort of study -enables him to correct his first impressions, or to -enlighten his ignorance; natural history and experimental -philosophy are not cultivated in Asia. If -not an agriculturist, mechanic, tradesman, or soldier, -he devotes himself to the intricacies of metaphysics, -and very commonly to a contemplative life; -he becomes an ascetic. Thus he knows no social life -embellished by the refinement of mutual sympathy, -nor the noble vocations of a citizen who lives—with -more than one life in himself, in others, and in the -whole community. Such being the general state of -Asia, let us not wonder that Mohsan Fani believed -some strange stories of miracles, and viewed with -astonishment tricks of jugglers, which he relates -<a name="Page_clxxxvi" id="Page_clxxxvi"></a><span class="pageno">clxxxvi</span> -with serious credulity, strangely contrasting with -his usual good sense, sagacity, and judgment. Thus, -he presents to us a man standing on his head with -his heels in the air during a whole night; others -restraining their breath many hours, and remaining -immoveable during two or three days; he speaks of -the miraculous effects of austerity, such as being in -different places at the same time; resuscitating the -dead; understanding the language of animals, vegetables, -and minerals; walking on the surface of -water, and through fire and air; commanding the -elements; leaving and reassuming the body; and -the like. But let us not forget that such stories were -told elsewhere, and in Europe, even so late as the -time in which the Dabistán was written.</p> - -<p>Further, although generally moral and judicious -in his sentences, grave and austere in his views, fervent -and exalted in devout contemplation, our author -now and then happens to use the language of ribaldry -and indecency, which deserves serious reprobation. -We shall however remark that taste, or -the sense of propriety in words and expressions -among Asiatics differs, as much as their general -civilisation, from ours. From religious austerity -they banished the elegant arts, as objects of sensuality; -but, as they could not stifle this essential part -of human nature, they only prevented its useful -refinement; they clipt the delicate flower, but left -<a name="Page_clxxxvii" id="Page_clxxxvii"></a><span class="pageno">clxxxvii</span> -the brute part of it: hence the grossness of their -jokes, expressions, and images. “To sacrifice to -the graces” is, among them, not understood at -all, or thought an abomination. But they cannot -be said to <em>violate</em> laws which they do not know; the -offence which they give from want of taste and decency, -is purely unintentional, and cannot with them -have that evil effect which, among us, it would be -likely to produce.</p> - -<p>As to the general style of the Dabistán—it is only -in the original text itself, that it can be justly appreciated. -It will perhaps sufficiently appear from -our translation that it distinguishes itself favorably -among other Oriental works with which it may be -compared. The diction is generally free from their -usual bombast; it is commonly clear, and when -obscure to an European reader, it is so on account -of the strangeness and abstruseness of the matter -treated. As to form—if judged according to the -rules of Western criticism, the work of Mohsan Fani -may be found deficient in the distribution and -arrangement of matter; there are useless repetitions, -incoherences, disorder, abrupt digressions, and excess, -sonetimes of prolixity, at others of concision. -Although we have reason to praise him for generally -naming the source from which he drew his information, -still we can but regret, now and then, his -not sufficiently authenticating nor explaining the -<a name="Page_clxxxviii" id="Page_clxxxviii"></a><span class="pageno">clxxxviii</span> -particulars which he relates. Thus we could -wish him to have been more explicit concerning -the Desátir. Upon the whole, we cannot accuse -him of not having performed what, in his time and -circumstances, was hardly possible, and what hitherto -no Asiatic author has achieved. We ought to -keep in mind how much, with respect to the perfection -of literary publications, we owe solely to the -art of printing, the practice of which, by its own -nature, necessitates and facilitates a manifold revision -and correction of the text, which otherwise could -hardly take place. This alone sufficiently accounts -for the frequent defects even of the best manuscript -works.</p> - -<p>Striking an equitable balance between faults and -excellencies, and with particular regard to the -abundance of curious, useful, and important information, -I shall not hesitate to express my sincere -persuasion, that the Dabistán was worthy of the -eulogy bestowed by the great Orientalist who first -brought it into public notice.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_206" id="footnote_206"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_206"><span class="muchsmaller">[206]</span></a> - <abbr title="Volume Three page">Vol. III. p.</abbr> 287.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_207" id="footnote_207"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_207"><span class="muchsmaller">[207]</span></a> - The Koran, <abbr title="chapter Eighteen verse">ch. XVIII. v.</abbr> 100.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_208" id="footnote_208"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_208"><span class="muchsmaller">[208]</span></a> - <cite>Ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="chapter Six verse">ch. VI. v.</abbr> 49.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_209" id="footnote_209"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_209"><span class="muchsmaller">[209]</span></a> - <cite>Ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="chapter Five verses">ch. V. vv.</abbr> 86. 88.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_210" id="footnote_210"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_210"><span class="muchsmaller">[210]</span></a> - <cite>Ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="chapter Twenty-nine verse">ch. XXIX. v.</abbr> 45.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_211" id="footnote_211"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_211"><span class="muchsmaller">[211]</span></a> - <cite>Ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="chapter Three verse">ch. III. v.</abbr> 57.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_212" id="footnote_212"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_212"><span class="muchsmaller">[212]</span></a> - <cite>Ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="verses">vv.</abbr> 61. 66. 67.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_213" id="footnote_213"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_213"><span class="muchsmaller">[213]</span></a> - <cite>Ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="chapter Twenty verse">ch. XX. v.</abbr> 66.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_214" id="footnote_214"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_214"><span class="muchsmaller">[214]</span></a> - <cite>Ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="chapter Ten verses">ch. X. vv.</abbr> 99. 100.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_215" id="footnote_215"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_215"><span class="muchsmaller">[215]</span></a> - See Epilogue.</p> - -<hr class="short" /> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p2 unindent hanging"><abbr title="Section Two">§ II.</abbr>—<span class="sc">Notice -concerning the printed edition, some -manuscripts, and the translations of the Dabistan</span>.</p> - -<p>It is well known, that the only printed edition of the -<a name="Page_clxxxix" id="Page_clxxxix"></a><span class="pageno">clxxxix</span> -Dabistán which exists is due to the press of Calcutta. -At the end of the work will be found the Epilogue of -the editor, <span class="person">Moulavi Nazer Ushruf</span>, a learned Muhammedan -gentleman of the district of Juanpur, -who was for many years employed in judicial offices -in the district of Burdwan, and in the court of -Sudder Diwani Adawlet, in Calcutta. These particulars -were communicated to me by the favor of the -honorable gentleman whose name the said editor -mentions in his Epilogue with encomium, the sincerity -of which can certainly not be questioned: it was -William Butterworth Bayley, at present director -and chairman of the Honorable East India Company. -It was he, a distinguished Persian scholar, who directed -and superintended the edition of the Dabistán. -Upon the strength of his authority I am enabled to -add, that the printed copy was the result of a careful -collation of several manuscript copies of this work. -One was obtained from Delhi (as mentioned in the -epilogue), and another from Bombay; two or three -were in the possession of natives in Calcutta. -Although these, as it is more or less the case with -all manuscripts, procurable in India, were defective, -yet we may believe the assurance given by the -editor, that “the doubts and faults have been as -much as possible discarded, and the edition -carried to a manifest accuracy.” This is confirmed -by the fact, that only a few discrepancies -<a name="Page_cxc" id="Page_cxc"></a><span class="pageno">cxc</span> -from the printed edition were found in two other -manuscripts, which were in England at the disposition -of the late David Shea for the translation of the -first part of the Dabistán. Nor did I find frequent -deviations from the printed text in the copy which -was transcribed for me in Calcutta from a manuscript, -procured from the library of the king of -Oude. Mutilated in many places, and imperfect as -is this latter, it afforded me nevertheless a few acceptable -readings. I was obliged to content myself -with the assistance of this only manuscript for the -translation, as several circumstances, among which -was the lamented death of the earl of Munster, prevented -me from obtaining the use of other manuscript -copies. All circumtances considered, I do not -hesitate to say, that the printed edition of the Dabistán -is more correct than any of the manuscript copies -which can be found; we have only to regret that -its typography, owing to the then imperfect state -of the Oriental press in Calcutta, is so irregular, -as to be scarce entitled to any preference over the -common sort of Persian manuscripts.</p> - -<p>The English translation of the Dabistán was begun -some time before the year 1835, by David Shea, one -of the professors of Oriental languages at Hayleybury. -He was in his early years distinguished in -the university of Dublin for his classical attainments, -and remained devoted to literature in all the various -<a name="Page_cxci" id="Page_cxci"></a><span class="pageno">cxci</span> -circumstances of his life. It was not for, nor in, -India—the great object and school of English students—but -in Malta, from peculiar inducement, -that, by uncommon application, he acquired the -Arabic and Persian languages. After his return to -England, having been attached to the Hayleybury -college—I should not fail to add to his eulogy by saying, -that he had before won the kind interest and -recommendation of sir Graves Haughton—and having -become a member of the committee of the Oriental -Translation Fund, he earned the applause of Orientalists -in England, and on the continent of Europe, -by his faithful and spirited translation of Mirkhond’s -history of the early kings of Persia. Undertaking -the translation of the Dabistán, he was undoubtedly -preparing to himself a new success, the full -realisation of which he was not permitted to enjoy; -the last date in his manuscript copy, in which he -was wont to mark the progress of his labor, was -April 22, 1835. From this day he appears to have -withdrawn his hand from the Dabistán, and too -soon after—I shall be permitted to use the very -words of the author whom he was -translating:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_216" id="fnanchor_216"></a><a href="#footnote_216" class="fnanchor">[216]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“He sought the stores of holy liberty,</div> - <div class="i0">A resting place on high, and soar’d from hence</div> - <div class="i0">Beyond the bounds of heaven, earth, and time.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>It was in the beginning of the year 1837 that I -<a name="Page_cxcii" id="Page_cxcii"></a><span class="pageno">cxcii</span> -was honored by the earl of Munster, the vice president -of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain -and Ireland, with the proposal of completing and -editing the English Dabistán. Having already several -years before been occupied with the same work -whilst pursuing my Indian studies, I was so much the -more prompted to accept the proffered honor. Engaged -however as I then was in publishing my French -translation of the first six books of the <span class="title">Rajatarangini</span> -from the Sanscrit, I could not begin the new work -before 1841. This delay was the cause of my being -deprived of the desired honor and satisfaction of -presenting my translation to the earl of Munster, who -while in the full enjoyment of life, welcomed with -a benevolent interest every contribution, however -small, to the general diffusion of Oriental history and -literature; he had accepted in Paris my Dedication -a short time before his death; it remains to me to -consecrate, with a profound feeling of regret and -veneration for departed worth, the English Dabistán -to his memory.</p> - -<p>I took charge of the manuscript copy of David -Shea’s version, which had been carried to page 201 -of the printed Calcutta edition.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_217" id="fnanchor_217"></a><a href="#footnote_217" class="fnanchor">[217]</a></span> -In this there were -only a few omissions to be supplied, and no other -rectifications to be made but those which a second -review would have suggested to my learned predecessor -<a name="Page_cxciii" id="Page_cxciii"></a><span class="pageno">cxciii</span> -himself; his notes, and those which I -thought necessary to add, are marked each with -the initials of our respective names.</p> - -<p>If I found little to change, I had much to imitate -in David Shea’s translation—his faithfulness and -clearness. By faithfulness I understand not only -expressing truly the sense, but also keeping unaltered -the words, figures, images, and phrases of the -original, as it is in them that the author’s national -and individual peculiarity is manifested. This sort -of faithfulness may roughen or hamper the phrase, -destroy the elegance of style, and even offend good -taste, but by it alone we shall not only know, as -I have just observed, the genius of the foreign -writer, but also satisfy the exigencies of philology, -which is one of the main purposes of translations -not undertaken as mere exercises of improvable -eloquence.</p> - -<p>An author will not employ more or other words -than those he thinks necessary for being understood -by readers of his own nation, religion, school; he -writes, for instance, as a Muhammedan for Muhammedans, -a Súfi for Súfis. But a translator must -do his best for uniting faithfulness with clearness, -the indispensable condition of any speech or writing; -he must add what is required for illustrating the -original text, and thus submit to a charge, now and -then heavier than he can bear.</p> - -<p><a name="Page_cxciv" id="Page_cxciv"></a><span class="pageno">cxciv</span> -Under the necessity of expounding the translation -by notes, I was not actuated by the ambition of being -new, but only by that of being as useful as my -means permitted, that is, by endeavoring to spare -the reader time and trouble to look for dates and biographical -notices of the persons, the situation of the -places, and the explanation of the technical terms -which occur in the text. Orientalists know the -difficulty of rendering in a European language the -phraseology of the Asiatic theology and philosophy. -The Dabistán presents, besides the Sanscrit, a confusion -of Arabic and Persian technical expressions; -some of them have a very comprehensive signification, -and for the sake of clearness must be rendered -by different terms in different places; other expressions -have at times a particular sense, and are at -other times to be taken in the common acceptation; -the same terms must be translated by different -words, and different terms by the same; finally, the -matter treated of is frequently so abstruse in its -nature that professed philosophers have not yet been -able to agree upon some of the most important -questions. I can therefore but apprehend that I may -not have thoroughly understood, and must confess -that I have not translated, to my own satisfaction, -more than one passage relative to Indian doctrines, -and to the Muhammedan scholastic philosophy.</p> - -<p>The Sanscrit names and terms of Indian mythology, -<a name="Page_cxcv" id="Page_cxcv"></a><span class="pageno">cxcv</span> -theology, and philosophy are much corrupted -by the Persian spelling; I have endeavored to restore -them to their original forms. I thought it right to -adduce in most cases the Sanscrit, Arabic, or Persian -word at the same time in Roman as well as -Devanagari, or Arabic characters, with its interpretation. -I followed the rule proposed by sir William -Jones for writing oriental words in Roman characters, -as often as I took these words from a Sanscrit, -Persian, or Arabic text; but from works written in -a European language, I was generally obliged to copy -the spelling of Oriental names: on which account, -in my notes, a regretable inequality of orthography -could not be avoided.</p> - -<p>The Dabistán not only touches upon most difficult -points of science and erudition, but also comprises -in its allusions and references nearly the -whole history of Asia. In observing this, I am necessarily -at the same time pointing to the many deficiencies -which will be found in my attempts to -comment and illustrate so comprehensive and diversified -a text. The best advantage which a man -obtains at the termination of an arduous work, is to -have enabled himself to make it better, if he could -begin again; but he can but humbly submit to the -decrees of an all-ruling power, which bestows -upon each mortal only a certain measure of faculties -and of time.</p> - -<p><a name="Page_cxcvi" id="Page_cxcvi"></a><span class="pageno">cxcvi</span> -Desirous to fulfil my task to the best of my abilities, -I did not neglect to consult every translation -of any part of the Dabistán which had been -published. I have already mentioned, in this -preface,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_218" id="fnanchor_218"></a><a href="#footnote_218" class="fnanchor">[218]</a></span> -that Gladwin edited the Persian text -of a part of the first chapter with an English -version which was worthy of his reputation as -an excellent Orientalist. Every thing that came -from the pen of the late doctor Leyden deserved -attention. I had before my eyes his translation of -chapter <abbr title="Nine">IX.</abbr>, on the religion of the Roshenian.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_219" id="fnanchor_219"></a><a href="#footnote_219" class="fnanchor">[219]</a></span> I did -not neglect the abridged interpretation of the religious -controversies held before Akbar, given in form -of a dialogue by the learned and ingenious Vans -Kennedy.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_220" id="fnanchor_220"></a><a href="#footnote_220" class="fnanchor">[220]</a></span> -I perused with due regard the explanations -which the illustrious Silvestre de Sacy furnished -of some passages of the Dabistán<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_221" id="fnanchor_221"></a><a href="#footnote_221" class="fnanchor">[221]</a></span> -since this -work became known to him in 1821, as well as -the remarks cursorily made upon it by some -Orientalists.</p> - -<p>I did not fail also to profit by the advantages -which my residence in Paris, and my connections -<a name="Page_cxcvii" id="Page_cxcvii"></a><span class="pageno">cxcvii</span> -with distinguished cultivators of Oriental literature, -could afford me on behalf of my translation. It is -my duty to acknowledge the services which I received -from the kindness of M. Garcin de Tassy, professor -of Hindostanee, whose intimate acquaintance -with Arabic and Persian literature in general, and -with Muhammedan theology in particular, is attested -by several esteemed works which he has published. -The many Arabic passages, disseminated in the -Dabistán, have mostly been revised, interpreted, -and referred to the Koran, by him. M. Eugène Burnouf, -professor of Sanscrit, is never in vain consulted -concerning that part of ancient philology in which -he has acquired a most particular and eminent -distinction. I also constantly experienced the -most friendly readiness to tender me information, -when required, in M. Julius Mohl and baron Mac -Guckin de Slane, as well as in M. Reinaud, professor -of Arabic, attached to the Royal Library, a -most distinguished conservator and most complaisant -communicator of the valuable manuscripts -under his special charge. I beg these honorable gentlemen -to receive my sincerest acknowledgments.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_216" id="footnote_216"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_216"><span class="muchsmaller">[216]</span></a> - See <abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. p.</abbr> <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_217" id="footnote_217"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_217"><span class="muchsmaller">[217]</span></a> - In the English <abbr title="translation to volume two page">transl. - to vol. II. p.</abbr> 85.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_218" id="footnote_218"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_218"><span class="muchsmaller">[218]</span></a> - <a href="#Page_vi"><abbr title="Page six">P. vi.</abbr></a></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_219" id="footnote_219"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_219"><span class="muchsmaller">[219]</span></a> - See <cite><abbr title="Asiatic Research">As. Res.</abbr></cite>, - <abbr title="volume Eleven pages">vol. XI. pp.</abbr> 406-420; Calcutta - quarto <abbr title="edition">edit.</abbr>; and -<abbr title="volume Three pages">vol. III. pp.</abbr> 26-42 of this work.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_220" id="footnote_220"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_220"><span class="muchsmaller">[220]</span></a> - See <abbr title="Transactions">Transact.</abbr> of the Bombay - <abbr title="Literary Society">Lit. Soc.</abbr>, <abbr title="volume two pages">vol. - II. pp.</abbr> 242-270, and -<abbr title="volume Three">vol. III.</abbr> of this work, - <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 50 <span class="decoration">et seq.</span></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_221" id="footnote_221"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_221"><span class="muchsmaller">[221]</span></a> - See <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Journal des Savans, février 1821</cite>, - Review of the Desátir; and -December, 1821, and January, 1822, Review of Thulok’s work upon Súfism.</p> -<hr class="short" /> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<!--blank page--> -<!--title page--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="h1head">THE DABISTÁN,</h2> - -<h5 class="h5head">OR</h5> - -<h2 class="h2head">SCHOOL OF MANNERS.</h2> -</div><!--end chapter--> -<!--blank page--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<a name="Page_1" id="Page_1"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 1</span> - -<h2 class="h1head">THE DABISTÁN,</h2> - -<h5 class="h5head">OR</h5> - -<h2 class="h2head">SCHOOL OF MANNERS.</h2> - -<hr class="short" /> - -<p class="p2 center"><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_222" id="fnanchor_222"></a><a href="#footnote_222" class="fnanchor">[222]</a></span>In - the name of the bountiful and merciful God.</p> - -<p class="center">Verse.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_223" id="fnanchor_223"></a><a href="#footnote_223" class="fnanchor">[223]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“O Thou, whose name is the beginning of the book of the children of the school,</div> - <div class="i0"> Thy remembrance is to the adult amongst the Sages the torch of their nightly retirement;</div> - <div class="i0"> Without thy name the tongue fails the palate of the barbarians,</div> - <div class="i0"> Although they know the language of Arabia;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_224" id="fnanchor_224"></a><a href="#footnote_224" class="fnanchor">[224]</a></span></div> -<a name="Page_2" id="Page_2"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 2</span> - <div class="i0"><span class="decoration">Having</span> the heart in the body <span class="decoration">full</span> - of thy remembrance, the novice, as well as the adept, in contemplation</div> - <div class="i0"><span class="decoration">Becomes</span> a supreme king of beatitude, and the throne of the kingdom of gladness.</div> - <div class="i0">Whatever road I took, it joined the street <span class="decoration">which leads</span> to Thee;</div> - <div class="i0">The desire <span class="decoration">to know</span> thy being is also the life of the meditators;</div> - <div class="i0">He who found that there is nothing but Thee, has found the <span class="decoration">final</span> knowledge;</div> - <div class="i0">The móbed is the teacher of thy truth, and the world a school.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>Blessing without limit to the mighty Being, the -Lord of existence, the rider upon the sun of the -celestial sphere <span class="decoration">which is</span> the eye-witness <span class="decoration">of his glory</span>; -<span class="decoration">to Him</span> whose servant is Saturn, Baharam (Mars) the -messenger, Jupiter the star, <span class="decoration">the herald of good fortune</span>, -Venus the slave; <span class="decoration">to Him who is</span> the ornament -of the throne of the empire of the faith, and the -crown of divinity of the kingdom of truth.”</p> - -<p class="p2 center">Masnavi.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_225" id="fnanchor_225"></a><a href="#footnote_225" class="fnanchor">[225]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“The being to whom the holy God said:</div> - <div class="i0">If not thee, I would not have created the - worlds;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_226" id="fnanchor_226"></a><a href="#footnote_226" class="fnanchor">[226]</a></span></div> -<a name="Page_3" id="Page_3"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 3</span> - <div class="i0">That primitive wisdom and that soul of the world;</div> - <div class="i0">That man of spirit, and that spirit of man.</div> - <div class="i0">Blessing be also to the Khalifs of the faithful, and - to the Lords of the Imáns of the faith.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_227" id="fnanchor_227"></a><a href="#footnote_227" class="fnanchor">[227]</a></span></div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="center">Rabaâi (quatrain).</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“The world is a book full of knowledge and of justice,</div> - <div class="i0">The binder of which book is destiny, and the binding the beginning and the end;</div> - <div class="i0">The suture of it is the law, and the leaves are the religious persuasions;</div> - <div class="i0">The whole nation is formed of its disciples, and the apostle is the teacher.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>In this book, called “The Dabistan,” is contained -something of the knowledge and faith of past nations, -of the speeches and actions of modern people, as it -has been reported by those who know what is manifest, -and see what is concealed; as well as by those -who are attached to exterior forms, and by those -who discern the inward meaning, without omission, -<a name="Page_4" id="Page_4"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 4</span> -and diminution, without hatred, envy and scorn, -and without taking a part for the one, or against -the other side of the question.</p> - -<p>This work is composed of several chapters.</p> - -<ul> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Chapter One">Chapt. I.</abbr></span> treats of the religion of the <span class="title">Pársián</span>.</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Chapter Two">Chapt. II.</abbr></span> of the religion of the <span class="title">Hindus</span>.</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Chapter Three">Chapt. III.</abbr></span> of the religion of the <span class="title">Tabitían</span>.</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Chapter Four">Chapt. IV.</abbr></span> of the religion of the <span class="title">Yahud</span> (Jews).</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Chapter Five">Chapt. V.</abbr></span> of the religion of the <span class="title">Tarasás</span> (Christians).</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Chapter Six">Chapt. VI.</abbr></span> of the religion of the <span class="title">Muselmáns</span>.</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Chapter Seven">Chapt. VII.</abbr></span> of the religion of the <span class="title">Sádakíah</span>.</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Chapter Eight">Chapt. VIII.</abbr></span> of the religion of the <span class="title">Váhadiáh</span> (Unitarians).</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Chapter Nine">Chapt. IX.</abbr></span> of the religion of the <span class="title">Rósheníán</span>.</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Chapter Ten">Chapt. X.</abbr></span> of the religion of the <span class="title">Ilahíah</span>.</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Chapter Eleven">Chapt. XI.</abbr></span> of the religion of the Wise (Philosophers).</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Chapter Twelve">Chapt. XII.</abbr></span> of the religion of the <span class="title">Súfiah</span>.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_222" id="footnote_222"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_222"><span class="muchsmaller">[222]</span></a> - The words in italic are not in the Persian text.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_223" id="footnote_223"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_223"><span class="muchsmaller">[223]</span></a> - The five distichs are in the metre called <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">هزج</span>, “hazaj,” composed of -the following feet: <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">مفعول مفاعيل فاعيل فعولن.</span> See <cite>M. Garcin -de Tassy, author of the “Mémoire sur le système métrique des Arabes, -adapté à la langue Hindoustani.”</cite> 1832.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_224" id="footnote_224"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_224"><span class="muchsmaller">[224]</span></a> - This distich contains the same idea as the following of Nizámi:</p> - -<div class="fnpoem2" lang="fa" xml:lang="fa"> - <div class="i0">هر که نه گويا بتوخاموش به</div> - <div class="i2">هر چه نه ياد تو فراموش به</div> -</div> - -<p class="footnote">“It is better not to speak than to speak of another but thee; it is better -to leave in oblivion what does not remind of thee.” <cite>Quoted in the -“Rudimens de la langue Hindoustani,” by the author just mentioned -(<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 16 and 25).</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_225" id="footnote_225"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_225"><span class="muchsmaller">[225]</span></a> - The two distichs are in a metre, which is a variety of the <span class="title">hazaj</span>, before -mentioned, and is composed as follows: <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">مفعول مفاعلن فعولن.</span></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_226" id="footnote_226"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_226"><span class="muchsmaller">[226]</span></a> - This verse expresses the same idea as the following hemistich of the -Arabic poem, called Borda, and composed by Sharf-eddin-al Búsíri:</p> - -<p class="footnote center"><span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">لولاه لما تخرج الدنيا من العدم</span></p> - -<p class="footnote"> -“Without him the world would never have come forth from nothingness.” -This is one of the celebrated traditions respecting Muhammed, -contained in the following words:</p> - -<p class="footnote center"><span lang="ar" xml:lang="ar">لولاک ما حلقت الافلاک</span></p> - -<p class="footnote">“If it had not been for thee (Muhammed), the worlds would never have -been created.” This encomiastic expression has been reproduced in -several other poems, Arabic, Persian, and Hindostani. <cite>See upon this -subject, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Les aventures de Kamrup,”</span> -<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 146-147, and <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Les OEuvres de -Wali,” <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 51-52, traduites de l’Hindoustani, par M. Garcin de Tassy.</span></cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_227" id="footnote_227"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_227"><span class="muchsmaller">[227]</span></a> - The manuscript of Oude has here: <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">محسن فانی گوبه,</span> “Mohsen -Fáni says:” which would leave no doubt upon the name of the author -of this book, if these words were not a mere addition of the copyist.</p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="One">I.</abbr></h3> - -<h4 class="h4head">OF THE RELIGION OF THE PARSIÁN.</h4> - -<p class="p2">This chapter is divided into fifteen sections.</p> - -<ul> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Section One">Sect. I.</abbr></span> of the religious tenets and ceremonies of the <dfn>Sipásíán</dfn>.</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Section Two">Sect. II.</abbr></span> of the distinguished men amongst the <dfn>Sipásíán</dfn>. -<a name="Page_5" id="Page_5"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 5</span></li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Section Three">Sect. III.</abbr></span> of the ordinances contained in the book revealed to <dfn>Abád</dfn>.</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Section Four">Sect. IV.</abbr></span> of the <dfn>Jemsháspián</dfn>.</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Section Five">Sect. V.</abbr></span> of the <dfn>Samrádíán</dfn>.</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Section Six">Sect. VI.</abbr></span> of the religion of the <dfn>Khodáníán</dfn>.</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Section Seven">Sect. VII.</abbr></span> of the tenets of the <dfn>Rádîan</dfn>.</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Section Eight">Sect. VIII.</abbr></span> of the religion of the <dfn>Shídrangíán</dfn>.</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Section Nine">Sect. IX.</abbr></span> of the belief of the <dfn>Pykeríán</dfn>.</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Section Ten">Sect. X.</abbr></span> of the tenets of the <dfn>Miláníán</dfn>.</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Section Eleven">Sect. XI.</abbr></span> of the doctrines of the <dfn>Aláríán</dfn>.</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Section Twelve">Sect. XII.</abbr></span> of the religious opinions of the <dfn>Shídábíán</dfn>.</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Section Thirteen">Sect. XIII.</abbr></span> of the religion of the <dfn>Akhshíán</dfn>.</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Section Fourteen">Sect. XIV.</abbr></span> of the belief of the <dfn>Zerdushtián</dfn>.</li> - <li><span class="sc"><abbr title="Section Fifteen">Sect. XV.</abbr></span> of the doctrine of the <dfn>Mazdakíán</dfn>.</li> -</ul> -<hr class="short" /> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p2 center">SECTION <abbr title="One">I.</abbr></p> - -<p><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_228" id="fnanchor_228"></a><a href="#footnote_228" class="fnanchor">[228]</a></span>Here -commences the history of the tenets -and ceremonies observed by the <span class="title">Sipásíán</span> and -<span class="title">Pársíán</span>.</p> - -<p>Among the <span class="title">Parsíán</span>, called also the <span class="title">Iraníán</span>, is a -<a name="Page_6" id="Page_6"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 6</span> -sect styled the <span class="title">Yazadíán</span> or <span class="title">Yazdáníán</span>, -<span class="title">Abádíán</span>, <span class="title">Sipásíán</span>, -<span class="title">Hushián</span>, <span class="title">Anushkán</span>, <span class="title">Azarhóshangíán</span>, and -<span class="title">Azaríán</span>. They believe it impossible for man, by -the force of intellect, or the energy of spirit, to comprehend -the exalted essence of the Almighty and -Holy Lord. Entity, unity, identity, or all his divine -attributes of knowledge and life, constitute the fountain -of his holy essence. He is, in the most comprehensive -sense, the paramount, omnipotent Lord -over all things, whether considered collectively, or -in the changes incident to their component parts. -All his works and operations are in conformity to -his exalted will: if he wills, he acts; if he wills not, -he acts not; but works worthy of adoration are as -inseparable from his honored essence, as his other -glorious attributes of perfection.—Urfí of Shíráz -thus expresses himself:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Thy essence is able to call into being all that is impossible,</div> - <div class="i0">Except to create one like thyself.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>The first creation of his existence-bestowing -bounty was the precious jewel of the intellectual -principle, called <dfn>Azad Bahman</dfn>; the solar ray which -constitutes the excellence of his august existence is -from the essence of the light of lights. From the -effulgence of <dfn>Bahman</dfn>, or the “First Intelligence,” -proceeded another, along with the spirit and body -of the Pure Ether or Crystalline Sphere. In like -<a name="Page_7" id="Page_7"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 7</span> -manner from this second -<dfn>Serúsh</dfn><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_229" id="fnanchor_229"></a><a href="#footnote_229" class="fnanchor">[229]</a></span> -or “angel” there -emanated three similar rays; so that every star in -the universe, whether in motion or at rest, that -is, every planet and fixed star, and also every one -of the heavens, has its peculiar intellect and spirit.</p> - -<p>They also believe that the heavens exceed the compass -of numbers, and that the spheres are as many -in number as the stars: also that every star has its -own firmament, but that the movements of their -spheres are in accordance with those of the zodiacal -firmament.</p> - -<p>In like manner, each of the four elements has its -separate guardian, from the <dfn>Nuristan</dfn> (region of -light), or the world of Intellects: which angel is -styled <dfn>Parvardigar</dfn> or <dfn>Parvardigar-i-Gunah</dfn>; <dfn>Dara</dfn> or -<dfn>Dara-i-Gunah</dfn>; and in Arabic, “<dfn>Rab-un-naw”</dfn> or -“Lord of the species;” in the same manner, all -their relations, or every species, has its peculiar -regent from the <dfn>Nuristan</dfn> or ‘region of light.’—They -regard the subsisting spirit of man, or the -<a name="Page_8" id="Page_8"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 8</span> -reasonable human soul, as eternal and infinite. Sáid -says thus:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“No sign of man or world appeared on the tablet of existence</div> - <div class="i0">When the soul breathed forth pursuant to thy will in the school of love.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>It is related in some of the esteemed records of this -sect, that by <dfn>eternal souls</dfn> are meant, the spirits of -the spheres: and that human souls are a creation, -but eternal: also, that some human temperaments -are so constituted, that souls from the upper world -are conferred on them: whilst others are adapted -for having attached to them souls abstracted from -matter; that such appropriation is regulated by -influence of the spheres, and is concealed from the -sight of the most profound thinkers. They also say, -when this immortal spirit attains to eminence in -praise-worthy knowledge and belief, that is, pure -faith and good works, that on leaving this lower -body, it succeeds in uniting itself to the sublime -uncompounded spirits: but should it not attain to -this high, emancipation-bestowing degree, it is united -to that sphere, in relation to which its acts were -upright. If the habitual language were praise-worthy -and the works performed meritorious, but it should -not have attained to the rank of union with a sphere, -it being then divested of corporeal elements, remains -in the lower world with the similitude of a bodily -form, and in consequence of its praise-worthy qualities, -it enjoys in appearance the view of the nymphs, -<a name="Page_9" id="Page_9"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 9</span> -palaces, and bright rose-bowers of paradise, and -becomes a <dfn>Zamíní-Serush</dfn>, or ‘Terrestrial Angel.’ -But if its words have been -reprehensible,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_230" id="fnanchor_230"></a><a href="#footnote_230" class="fnanchor">[230]</a></span> and also -accompanied with evil deeds, on deserting this material -body, it obtains not another similarly constituted -and is unable to reach the <dfn>Shídastan</dfn> or ‘the region -of Light.’ Being thus separated from the primitive -source, it remains in the abode of Elements, in the -Hell of concupiscence and passion and the flames of -remorse: ultimately it becomes the prey of malady, -but does not obtain a higher mansion: the soul of -such a description finally becomes an <dfn>Ahriman</dfn>, or -‘Evil Demon.’ If in a spirit destitute of praiseworthy -conversation, the good actions -preponderate,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_231" id="fnanchor_231"></a><a href="#footnote_231" class="fnanchor">[231]</a></span> -but in consequence of the attachment of the -heart to matter, or through ignorance, such a spirit -attains not to the dignity of liberation, it removes -from one body to another, until by the efficacy of -good words and deeds, it is finally emancipated from -body and gains a high rank. Sarábí thus says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“The truly free, as soon as possible, disengages himself from body:</div> - <div class="i0">If he cannot extricate himself from skin, let him resign his doublet.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 10</span> -But if the spirit be prone to error, it descends -successively from the human frame to the animal -body: such are the doctrines of their distinguished -men. Some however of this sect, in whose language -all is metaphorical and figurative, assert, that sometimes -the spirit, through excessive wickedness, becomes -by insensible degrees connected with plants -and vegetables; and frequently, by progressive gradations, -becomes joined to mineral or metallic substances. -According to this class of believers, there -is an uncompounded soul in each of the three kingdoms -of nature: and they acknowledge that every -thing possesses a ray of existence emanating from -<dfn>Shíd Shídan</dfn>, or ‘Effulgence of Light.’ One of the -eminent men, agreeably to this view, has said:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“The soul is the marrow of certainty, the body its envelope:</div> - <div class="i0">In the robes of spirit contemplate the form of a friend (the Creator).</div> - <div class="i0">Whatever object bears the impress of existence,</div> - <div class="i0">Regard it as the reflexion of light, or his very self.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>They also hold that the world bears the same -affinity to the Creator, as the solar light doth to the -body of the sun; that it has existed from all eternity -and will continue to all infinity. They maintain -that, whatever exists in this world, or that of formation -and evanescence, depends on the influence of -the stars; also that astronomers and astrologers -<a name="Page_11" id="Page_11"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 11</span> -have found out some few effects of the influence of -the seven planets, but are ignorant of the natures and -influences of the slow-moving or fixed stars. The -possessors of <dfn>Fardát</dfn> and <dfn>Fartáb</dfn>, or those who are -directed by inspiration and revelation, have laid -down that every star, whether fixed or planetary, -is regent during certain periods of several thousand -years: one thousand years being assigned to each -star, without the association of any other: on the -termination of which, in the subsequent millennia, -both the fixed and planetary stars are successively -associated with it—that is, in commencing the series -with a fixed star, we call the fixed star which is Lord -of the Cycle, the First King; on the termination of -the millennium appropriated to him, another fixed -star becomes partner with the First King, which -partner we style First Minister: but the supremacy -and dominion of the period belong exclusively to the -First King: on the termination of the second millennium,—the -period of office assigned to the First -Minister expires, and another star is associated with -the First King; and so on, until the fixed stars are -all gone through: on which Saturn becomes associated -with the First King, and continues so during -a thousand years, and so with the other planets, -until the period of association with the moon arrives: -then terminates the supremacy of the fixed star, -named the First King, and his authority expires. -<a name="Page_12" id="Page_12"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 12</span> -After the First King, the star associated with him -in the second millennium, and which was called the -First Minister, now attains the supremacy and becomes -Lord of the Cycle, during which cycle of -sovereignty we style him the Second King, with a -thousand years appropriated to his special rule as -before stated. In the following millennium another -fixed star becomes his associate, as above mentioned, -and goes through a similar course. When the period -of the moon’s association arrives, the moon remains -joined with the Second King during a millennium, -on the completion of which, that fixed star, the term -of whose sovereignty has passed away, and who -commenced the cycle, under the style of First King, -is associated with the Lord of the Cycle, styled the -Second King; after which, the empire of the Second -King’s star also terminates and becomes transferred -to another: thus all the fixed stars in succession -become kings, until they are all gone through, on -which the principality and supremacy come to <dfn>Shat -Kaivan</dfn>, or ‘the Lord Saturn,’ with whom in like -manner the fixed stars and planets are associated -for their respective millennia,—when the dominion -comes to the <dfn>Shat Máh</dfn>, or ‘Lunar Lord,’ his period -is ended as before stated, the cycle completed, and -one great circle or revolution has been described.—On -the expiration of this great period, the sovereignty -reverts to the First King; the state of the -<a name="Page_13" id="Page_13"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 13</span> -revolving world recommences; this world of formation -and evanescence is renovated; the human beings, -animals, vegetable and mineral productions -which existed during the first cycle, are restored to -their former language, acts, dispositions, species and -appearance, with the same designations and distinctions; -the successive regenerations continually -proceeding on in the same manner. The prince of -physicians, <span class="title">Abu Alí</span> (whose spirit may God sanctify!) -expresses himself to this purport:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i2b">“<em>Every</em> form and image, which seems at present effaced,</div> - <div class="i2">Is securely stored up in the treasury of time—</div> - <div class="i2">When the same position of the heavens again recurs,</div> - <div class="i0">The Almighty reproduces each from behind the mysterious veil.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>It is here necessary to remark, that their meaning -is not, that the identical spirits of <span class="title">Abad</span>, <span class="title">Kaiomors</span>, -<span class="title">Siáymak</span> and <span class="title">Húshang</span> shall be imparted to the identical -material bodies long since abandoned, or that -the scattered members of the body shall be reassembled -and reunited: such sentiments, according to -them, are absurd and extravagant: their real belief -is this, that forms similar to those which have passed -away, and bodies resembling the primitive ones, -their counterpart in figure, property and shape, shall -appear, speaking and acting exactly in the same manner. -How could the exalted spirits of the perfect, -which are united with angels, return back? They -also maintain that men do not arise from their own -species, without father or mother: but they affirm -<a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 14</span> -that, as a man and woman were left at the commencement -of the past cycle, so there shall two -remain in the present cycle, for the continuance -of the human race. For although the heavens are -the sires of the three natural kingdoms or productive -principles, and the elements their mother, -yet this much only has been imparted to us, that -man is born of man, and is not produced after any -other fashion.</p> - -<p>The followers of the ancient faith call one revolution -of the regent Saturn, a day; thirty such days, -one month; twelve such months, one year; a million -of such years, one <dfn>fard</dfn>;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_232" id="fnanchor_232"></a><a href="#footnote_232" class="fnanchor">[232]</a></span> -a million <dfn>fard</dfn>, one -<dfn>vard</dfn>; a million <dfn>vard</dfn>, one <dfn>mard</dfn>; a million <dfn>mard</dfn>, one -<dfn>jád</dfn>; three thousand <dfn>jád</dfn>, one <dfn>vád</dfn>; and two thousand -<dfn>vád</dfn>, one <dfn>zád</dfn>.<span class="lock"><a href="#footnote_232" class="fnanchor">[232]</a></span>—According -to this mode of computation, -the happiness and splendor of the Máhábádian -dynasty lasted one hundred zád of years. They -believe it impossible to ascertain the commencement -<a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 15</span> -of human existence; and that it is not to be comprehended -by human science: because there is no epoch -of identical persons, so that it is absolutely impossible -to form any definite ideas on the subject, which -resembles an arithmetical infinite series. Such a -belief also agrees with the philosophy and opinions -of the Grecian sages.</p> - -<p>From the authority of esteemed works, they account -<span class="title">Máhábád</span> the first of the present cycle; as in -reality he and his wife were the survivors of the -great period, and the bounteous Lord had bestowed -on them so immense a progeny, that from their -numbers, the very clefts of the mountains were -filled. The author of the <span class="title">Amíghistan</span> relates, that -they were acquainted only to a trifling degree with -the viands, drinks and clothing which through the -bounty of God are now met with: besides, in that -cycle there existed no organization of cities, systems -of policy, conditions of supremacy, rules of authority -and power, principles of <dfn>Nushád</dfn> or law, nor instruction -in science and philosophy, until through the -aid of celestial grace, joined to the manifold favors -and bounties of God, the uncontrolled authority of -<span class="title">Máhábád</span> pervaded alike the cultivated region and -the wild waste; the wide expanse of land and sea. -Through divine illumination, in conjunction with -his spiritual nature, the assistance of his guiding -angel and the eyes of discernment; and also what -<a name="Page_16" id="Page_16"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 16</span> -he had seen and heard in the past cycle, he meditated -on the creation of the world: he then clearly -perceived that the nine superior divisions, and the -four lower elements, the subjects of existence, are -blended and associated with distinct essences and -accidents, so as to combine together opposing movements -with contrary dispositions and natures: and -that the aggregate of this whole indispensably requires -a supreme bestower of connection, a blender -and creator: also that whatever this bestower of -relation wills, and this all perfect in wisdom does, -cannot be destitute of utility and wisdom: Máhábád -therefore dispatched persons to all quarters and -regions of the world, to select from land and water -all productions and medicinal plants held in esteem -for their various properties; these he planted in a -proper site, so that by the aid of the terrene and -aqueous particles, the influence of atmospheric -temperature, in conjunction with the sidereal energies, -their powers of vegetation, nutritious qualities, -and properties might be ascertained. At the time -of promulgating this excellent purpose, the sovereign -of the starry host entered in glory the mansion -of Aries; and the rapidly-sketching painter of destiny -drew forth the faces of the brides of the gardens -(blossoms and flowers): then, through the -efficacy of command, experiment, and examination, -Máhábád extracted from the various flowers, fruits, -<a name="Page_17" id="Page_17"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 17</span> -leaves and fibres, the different alimentary substances, -medicinal compounds, viands and beverages. He -next commanded all sorts of ores to be fetched from -the mines and liquified in the furnace, so that the -different metals concealed in them became visible. -Out of iron, which combines hardness and sharpness, -he formed warlike weapons for the brave; -jewels, gold, silver, rubies, sapphires, diamonds, -and chrysolithes, in which he observed smoothness -and capability of polish, he assigned as decorations -for kings, military chieftains, and matrons. -He also ordered persons to descend into the deep -waters and bring forth the shells, pearls, corals, etc. -People were commanded to shear the fleece of sheep -and other animals: by him also were invented the -arts of spinning, weaving, cutting up, sewing and -clothing. He next organized cities, villages, and -streets; erected palaces and colonnades; introduced -trade and commerce; and divided mankind into four -classes. The first was composed of <span class="title">Hírbeds</span>, -<span class="title">Mobeds</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_233" id="fnanchor_233"></a><a href="#footnote_233" class="fnanchor">[233]</a></span> -<a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 18</span> -ascetics, and learned men, selected for maintaining -the faith and enforcing the sentence of the laws: -these are also called <span class="title">Birman</span> and -<span class="title">Birmun</span>;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_234" id="fnanchor_234"></a><a href="#footnote_234" class="fnanchor">[234]</a></span> that is, -they resemble the <span class="title">Barínían</span> or supreme beings, the -exalted angels: they also style them -<span class="title">Húristár</span>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_235" id="fnanchor_235"></a><a href="#footnote_235" class="fnanchor">[235]</a></span> -The second class consists of kings and intrepid warriors, -who devote themselves to the cares of government -and authority, to the promotion of equity and -the curbing of oppression; those they call <span class="title">Chatramán</span>, -<span class="title">Chatraman</span>, and -<span class="title">Chatrí</span>:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_236" id="fnanchor_236"></a><a href="#footnote_236" class="fnanchor">[236]</a></span> -this word <dfn>Chatrí</dfn> -means a standard or distinction; as people of high -rank have a <dfn>Chatra</dfn>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_237" id="fnanchor_237"></a><a href="#footnote_237" class="fnanchor">[237]</a></span> -or umbrella, to protect them -<a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 19</span> -with its shade, which they call <span class="title">Sayah dar</span> and <span class="title">Sayah -ban</span>; the people repose under the shade of the individuals -of this class, who are also called <span class="title">Núristár</span>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_238" id="fnanchor_238"></a><a href="#footnote_238" class="fnanchor">[238]</a></span> -The third class is composed of husbandmen, cultivators, -artisans, skilful men, and mechanics; these -are called <span class="title">Bás</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_239" id="fnanchor_239"></a><a href="#footnote_239" class="fnanchor">[239]</a></span> -which is synonymous with <dfn>Bisyár</dfn> -or numerous; as this class should far exceed in -number all the others. <dfn>Bás</dfn> also means cultivation -and improvement, results which altogether depend -on this order—they are also styled <span class="title">Suristár</span>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_240" id="fnanchor_240"></a><a href="#footnote_240" class="fnanchor">[240]</a></span> The -fourth class are destined for every kind of employment -and service; they are called <dfn>Súdín</dfn>, <dfn>Súdí</dfn>, and -<dfn>Súd</dfn>:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_241" id="fnanchor_241"></a><a href="#footnote_241" class="fnanchor">[241]</a></span> -from them profit, indulgence, and ease accrue -to society: they are also called <span class="title">Rúzistar</span>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_242" id="fnanchor_242"></a><a href="#footnote_242" class="fnanchor">[242]</a></span> -He instituted -these four classes,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_243" id="fnanchor_243"></a><a href="#footnote_243" class="fnanchor">[243]</a></span> -the four elements of society, -<a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 20</span> -and the sources of organization were completed; -independence and want appeared; there were produced -the gradations of ruler and subject; of lord -and servant; discipline and authority; justice and -knowledge; kindness and severity; protection of the -<dfn>Zindbar</dfn> or kind treatment of innoxious creatures; -destruction of the <dfn>Tundbar</dfn> or noxious animals; the -knowledge of God and the ceremonies of his worship.</p> - -<p>God also sent <span class="title">Abád</span> a code called the -<span class="title">Dasátir</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_244" id="fnanchor_244"></a><a href="#footnote_244" class="fnanchor">[244]</a></span> -<a name="Page_21" id="Page_21"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 21</span> -in which are formed all languages and sciences. -This work consisted of several volumes, containing -a certain number for each dialect. In it was also -the language called <dfn>Asmání</dfn>, or the Celestial, not a -trace of which has remained in any of the languages -spoken by the inhabitants of this lower world. -<span class="title">Abád</span> also assigned a language to every nation, and -settled each in a suitable place: and thus were produced -the Parsi, Hindi, Greek and such like.</p> - -<p>According to this sect, authentic revelation is only -obtained by the world of ecstacy or similitude, called -<span class="title">Mánistán</span>; but from the time of -<span class="title">Máhábád</span>, all the prophets -who were sent were in accordance with his -faith; not one of them being opposed to his law. -After <span class="title">Máhábád</span>, appeared thirteen apostles who, with -him, were styled the fourteen <span class="title">Máhábáds</span>: they were -called by the common name of <span class="title">Abád</span>, and acted on -every occasion in conformity to their ancestor and -his Celestial Code: and whatever revelation was -made to them tended to corroborate the faith of -<span class="title">Máhábád</span>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_245" id="fnanchor_245"></a><a href="#footnote_245" class="fnanchor">[245]</a></span> -After them, their sons in due succession -obtained sovereign power, after their fathers, and -devoted themselves to justice. The followers of this -<a name="Page_22" id="Page_22"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 22</span> -sect also believe that all the prophets and kings were -selected from the heads of the most distinguished -families.</p> - -<p>Next to this dynasty, known as the Mahabadian, -comes <span class="person">Abád Azád</span>, who withdrew from temporal -power and walked in the path of devotion and seclusion. -It is recorded, that in their time, the realm -was highly cultivated; treasures were abundant; lofty -palaces, ornamented with paintings and exciting -admiration; colonnades attracting the heart; the -Mobeds celebrated, profoundly learned, worshippers -of God, undefiled, equally eminent in good words -and deeds; soldiers, well-appointed and disciplined, -with corresponding trains of attendants and officers; -mountain-resembling elephants; chargers like fragments -of <dfn>Alburz</dfn>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_246" id="fnanchor_246"></a><a href="#footnote_246" class="fnanchor">[246]</a></span> -rapid in their course; swift-paced -animals for riding; numerous camels and dromedaries; -well-trained cavalry and infantry, and -leaders who had experience in the world; precious -stuffs; vases of gold and silver; thrones and crowns -of great price; heart-delighting tapestries and gardens -with other such objects, the like of which exists -not at present, and were not recorded as being in -<a name="Page_23" id="Page_23"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 23</span> -existence in the treasures or reigns of the <span class="title">Gilsháíán</span> -monarchs.</p> - -<p>However, on the mere abandonment of the crown -by <span class="person">Abád Azád</span>, every thing went to ruin; so much -blood was shed that the mills were turned by streams -of gore; all that had been accomplished by the inventions -and discoveries of this fortunate race was forgotten; -men became like savage and ferocious beasts, -and as in former times resumed their abodes in the -mountain-clefts and gloomy caverns; those superior -in strength overpowered and oppressed the weaker. -At last some of the sages eminent for praise-worthy -language and deeds, and who possessed the volume -of Máhábád, assembled and went into the presence -of <span class="person">Jai Afrám</span>, the son of Abád, who, next his sire -was the most undefiled and intelligent of men, and -became one of the great Apostles: he passed his -time in a mountain cave, far removed from intercourse -with the world, and was styled <dfn>Jai</dfn> on account -of his purity, as in the <span class="title">Abádí</span> or <span class="title">Azárí</span> language, a -holy person is called -<dfn>Jai</dfn>:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_247" id="fnanchor_247"></a><a href="#footnote_247" class="fnanchor">[247]</a></span> -the assembled sages with -one voice implored his justice, saying: “We know -of no remedy for preserving the world from ruin, -excepting the intercourse of thy noble nature with -mankind.” They afterwards recited to him the -<a name="Page_24" id="Page_24"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 24</span> -counsels, testamentary precepts, traditions and memorials -of the <span class="title">Abádíán</span> princes on the great merit of -this undertaking. He did not however assent, until -a divine command had reached him, when through -the influence of revelation and the presence of the -decree-bearing angel, <span class="title">Gabriel</span>, he arose and assumed -the high dignity, The realm once more flourished, -and the institutes of <span class="title">Abád</span> resumed their former -vigor. The last of the fortunate monarchs of the -<span class="title">Jaí</span> dynasty was <span class="person">Jaí Alád</span>, who also retired from -mankind; when the dominion had remained in this -family during one <span class="title">aspár</span> of years. It is written in -books of high authority that <span class="person">Jaí Afrám</span> was called -the son of <span class="person">Abád Azád</span>, because next to his noble -ancestor no individual possessed such great perfections: -but in reality many generations intervened -between them: besides, <span class="person">Jaí Afrám</span> was descended -from the sons of <span class="person">Abád Azád</span>, so that there is a wide -interval between <span class="person">Sháí Gilív</span> and <span class="person">Jaí Abád</span>: in like -manner between <span class="person">Sháí Mahbúl</span> and <span class="person">Yásán</span>, and between -<span class="person">Yásán</span> and <span class="person">Gilsháhí</span> there must have elapsed -multiplied and numerous generations.</p> - -<p>Those who would understand the doctrines of this -faith must know, the process of numeration among -this profoundly-thinking sect is as follows; by tens, -hundreds and thousands: one <dfn>salám</dfn> equal to one -hundred thousand; one hundred salám, one <dfn>shamár</dfn>; -one hundred <dfn>shámar</dfn>, one <dfn>aspár</dfn>; one hundred <dfn>aspár</dfn>, -<a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 25</span> -one <dfn>rádah</dfn>; one hundred <dfn>rádah</dfn>, one <dfn>arádah</dfn>; a hundred -<dfn>arádah</dfn>, one <dfn>ráz</dfn>; a hundred <dfn>ráz</dfn>, one <dfn>aráz</dfn>; -and a hundred <dfn>aráz</dfn>, one <dfn>bíáraz</dfn>.</p> - -<p>Now that their system of computation has been -explained, I shall proceed with their history. They -say that when his attendants found not the auspicious -monarch <span class="person">Jaí Alád</span>, neither amongst his courtiers, -nor in the royal apartments, or <dfn>harem</dfn>, nor in -the house of praise, or place of prayer, the affairs of -the human race fell once more into disorder: at -length the sages and holy men went and represented -the state of affairs to the praise-worthy apostle <span class="person">Sháí -Gilív</span>, son of <span class="person">Jáí Alád</span>, who was then engaged in the -worship of the Almighty. This prince, from his -great devotion and unceasing adoration rendered to -God, was called <span class="title">Sháí</span> and <span class="title">Sháyí</span>, that is a god and a -God-worshipper: his sons were therefore styled -<span class="title">Sháyián</span>. When the sages had stated the case, the -first <span class="title">Sháyíán</span> prince, <span class="person">Sháí Gilív</span>, having reflected on -the cruelty practised towards the animal creation, -arose, through the influence of a celestial revelation -and Divine light, and sat in his illustrious father’s -throne. After this happy dynasty came <span class="person">Sháí Mahbúl</span>, -when the <span class="title">Sháíyán</span> empire had lasted one <dfn>shamár</dfn> -of years.</p> - -<p>After these came the <span class="title">Yásánián</span>, so called from -<span class="person">Yásán</span>, the son of <span class="person">Sháí Mahbúl</span>: this prince was -exceeding wise, intelligent, holy and celebrated; the -<a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 26</span> -apostle of the age: and being in every respect worthy -of supreme power, was therefore called <span class="title">Yásán</span>, or the -meritorious and justly -exalted.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_248" id="fnanchor_248"></a><a href="#footnote_248" class="fnanchor">[248]</a></span> -His mighty sire -having withdrawn from mankind, retired into seclusion, -and there giving himself entirely up to the -worship of God, the affairs of the human race again -relapsed into disorder. Tradition informs us, that -when these auspicious prophets and their successors -beheld evil to prevail amongst mankind, they invariably -withdrew from among them—as they could -not endure to behold or hear wickedness; and sin -had no admission to their breasts. When the chain -of worldly repose had been rent asunder, Yasán, in -obedience to a Divine revelation, seated himself on -the throne of sovereignty, and overthrew evil. Of -this happy dynasty the last was <span class="title">Yásán Ajám</span>, when -this admirable family had graced the throne during -ninety and nine <span class="title">salám</span> of years. The author of the -<span class="title">Amíghistán</span> says: “The years which I have mentioned -are <dfn>farsáls</dfn> of Saturn: one revolution of the -regent Saturn, which is allowed to be thirty years, -they call one day; thirty such days, one month; and -twelve such months, one year.” This is the rule -observed by the <span class="title">Yezdánián</span>, who write down the -various years of the seven planets after this manner: -<a name="Page_27" id="Page_27"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 27</span> -such is the amount of the saturnian <dfn>farsál</dfn>. This -same system of computation is applied to the <dfn>farsáls</dfn> -of Mars, Venus, Mercury and the moon, a day of -each being the time of their respective revolutions: -they at the same time retain the use of the ordinary -lunar and solar months.</p> - -<p>It is also to be observed that, according to them, -the year is of two kinds; one the <dfn>farsál</dfn>, which is -after this manner: when the planet has traversed -the twelve mansions of the zodiac, they call it one -day; thirty such days, one month; and twelve such -months, one year; as we have before explained under -Saturn. Similar years constitute the <dfn>farsáls</dfn> of the -other planets, which they thus enumerate; the <dfn>farsáls</dfn> -of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the sun, Venus, Mercury, -and the moon: the months of the <dfn>farsál</dfn> they -call <dfn>farmáh</dfn>; the days of the farmáh, <dfn>farróz</dfn>. The -second kind of years is, when Saturn in the period of -thirty years traverses the twelve mansions, which -they call a saturnian <dfn>karsál</dfn>; the <dfn>karmáh</dfn> is his remaining -two years and a half in each mansion,—Jupiter -describes his period in twelve common years; -this time they call the <dfn>hormuzí karsál</dfn>; and the <dfn>hormuzí -karmáh</dfn> is his remaining one year in each mansion: -and so with regard to the others. However, -when we speak of years or months in the accounts -given of the <span class="title">Gilsháíyán</span> princes, solar and lunar -years and months are always meant; day implies the -<a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 28</span> -acknowledged day; and by month is meant the residence -of the Great Light in one of the zodiacal mansions; -and by year, his passing through the zodiac; -a lunar month is its complete revolution, and traversing -all the signs, which year and month are also -called <dfn>Tímúr</dfn>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_249" id="fnanchor_249"></a><a href="#footnote_249" class="fnanchor">[249]</a></span></p> - -<p>When Yásán Asám had abandoned this elementary -body and passed away from this abode of -wickedness, the state of mankind fell into utter -ruin, as his son <span class="person">Gilsháh</span>, who was enlightened in -spirit, intelligent in nature, adorned by good deeds, -feeling no wish for sovereign power, had given -himself so entirely up to the service of God, that -no one knew the retreat of this holy personage.—Men -therefore, shutting up the eyes of social intercourse, -extended the arm of oppression against each -other; at once the lofty battlements and noble edifices -were levelled to the ground; the deep fosses -filled up; mankind being left destitute of a head, the -bonds of society were broken; slaughter was carried -to such excess, that numerous rivers flowed -with currents of blood, streaming from the bodies of -the slain: in a short time not a trace was left of the -countless treasures and the boundless stores, the -amount of which defied the computations of imagination. -Matters even came to such an extremity, that -<a name="Page_29" id="Page_29"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 29</span> -men threw off the institutes of humanity, and were -no longer capable of distinguishing the relative values -of precious stones, wares and commodities: they left -not a vestige remaining of palaces and cities; but -like ferocious and savage beasts, took up their dwelling -in the mountain caverns.—Besides this, they -fought against each other, so that the multitudes of -the human race were reduced to a scanty remnant.</p> - -<p>On this, <span class="title">Gilsháh</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_250" id="fnanchor_250"></a><a href="#footnote_250" class="fnanchor">[250]</a></span> -of exalted nature, in obedience to -a revelation from heaven, and to the command of the -ruler of the universe, became the sovereign of mankind: -he restored the institutes of justice, and reassembled -the members of his family, who, during his -seclusion, had totally dispersed: on this account he -was styled <span class="title">Abú-l-Bashr</span>, or “the Father of the human -race,” because with the exception of his family, -the great majority of the others having fallen in their -mutual contests, the survivors had adopted the pursuits -and habitudes of demons and of wild beasts: -<span class="person">Kaiomors</span>, or <span class="person">Gilsháh</span>, with his sons, then proceeded -to give battle to the vile race, and disabled their -<a name="Page_30" id="Page_30"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 30</span> -hands from inflicting cruelty on the harmless animals: -all that we find in Histories of Kaiomors, and -his sons fighting against demons, refers to this circumstance, -and the systems of faith which sanction -the slaughter of animals were all invented by this -demon-like race. In short, the only true Ruler of -the world transmitted a celestial volume to Kaiomors, -and also selected for the prophetic office -among his illustrious descendants, <span class="person">Siyámak</span>, <span class="person">Húsháng</span>, -<span class="person">Tahmúras</span>, <span class="person">Jemshíd</span>, -<span class="person">Farídún</span>, <span class="person">Minucheher</span>, -<span class="person">Kai Khúsró</span>, <span class="person">Zaratúsht</span>, -<span class="person">Azár Sásán</span> the first, and -<span class="person">Azár Sásán</span> the fifth, enjoining them to walk in conformity -with the doctrines of Máhábád and Kaiomors; -so that the celestial volumes which he bestowed -on those happy princes, all their writings -and records were in perfect accord with the code of -<span class="title">Máhábád</span>: with the exception of <span class="person">Zaratúsht</span>, not one -of this race uttered a single word against the book -of Abad: and even Zaratúsht’s words were, by the -glosses of the <span class="title">Yezdániáns</span>, made to conform to the -<span class="title">Máhábádian</span> code—they therefore style Zaratúsht, -“<dfn>Wakhshur-i-Simbari</dfn>,” or the parable-speaking -prophet.</p> - -<p>The Gilsháían monarchs constitute four races; -namely, the <span class="title">Peshdádían</span>, <span class="title">Kaiánián</span>, -<span class="title">Ashkánián</span>, and -<span class="title">Sásáníán</span>: the last of these kings is -<span class="person">Yezdejird</span>, the son -of <span class="person">Sheriar</span>: the empire of these auspicious sovereigns -lasted six thousand and twenty-four years and five -<a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 31</span> -months.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_251" id="fnanchor_251"></a><a href="#footnote_251" class="fnanchor">[251]</a></span> -During their existence, the world was -arrayed in beauty: <span class="person">Kaiomors</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_252" id="fnanchor_252"></a><a href="#footnote_252" class="fnanchor">[252]</a></span> -<span class="person">Siyamak</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_253" id="fnanchor_253"></a><a href="#footnote_253" class="fnanchor">[253]</a></span> -<span class="person">Húshang</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_254" id="fnanchor_254"></a><a href="#footnote_254" class="fnanchor">[254]</a></span> -named the <span class="person">Péshdádián</span>, -<span class="person">Tahmúras</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_255" id="fnanchor_255"></a><a href="#footnote_255" class="fnanchor">[255]</a></span> -surnamed the -Enslaver of Demons, and <span class="person">Jemshid</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_256" id="fnanchor_256"></a><a href="#footnote_256" class="fnanchor">[256]</a></span> -through celestial -<a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 32</span> -revelations, Divine assistance, the instruction of -Almighty God, unerring prudence, and just views, -having followed in all things what we have recorded -concerning Máhábád and his illustrious children, -introduced the rules of Divine worship, the knowledge -of God, virtuous deeds, purity of conduct, -modes of diet, clothing, the rites of marriage, the -observance of continence, with all kinds of science, -letters, books, professions, solemn festivals, banquets, -wind and stringed musical instruments, cities, -gardens, palaces, ornaments, arms, gradations of -office, the distinctions of the two sexes with respect -to exposure and privacy, the diffusion of equity, justice, -and all that was praiseworthy.</p> - -<p>After these, the Gilsháiyán ruled, through divine -inspiration and the communication of the Almighty -added to their intelligence, so that the greater part -of the splendor, pomp, and beauty we now behold -in the world is to be attributed to this happy race: -many however of the excellent institutions of this -happy dynasty have fallen into disuse and a few -only remain.</p> - -<p>The following is the sum of the <span class="title">Sipásián</span> creed: -from the commencement of <span class="title">Máhábád’s</span> empire to the -<a name="Page_33" id="Page_33"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 33</span> -end of <span class="person">Yezdejird</span>’s reign, the great majority, nay all -the individuals of this chosen race, with the exception -of <span class="person">Zokah</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_257" id="fnanchor_257"></a><a href="#footnote_257" class="fnanchor">[257]</a></span> -were models of equity, characterized -by justice and piety, perfect in words and deeds. -In this holy family, some were prophets, all were -saints, righteous and God-fearing persons, with -realms and armies maintained in the highest order. -They also acknowledge the apostles and princes -prior to <span class="person">Gilsháh</span>, from <span class="title">Máhábád</span> -to <span class="person">Yásán Ajám</span>, as so -eminently pious, that in no degree whatever did wickedness -enter into their conversation or actions: nor -did they at any time deviate from the <dfn>Paymán-i-Farhang</dfn>, -or “Excellent Covenant,” which is the code -of Máhábád, nor omit the performance of any duty; -they also held that the stars are exceedingly exalted, -and constitute the -<dfn>Kiblah</dfn><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_258" id="fnanchor_258"></a><a href="#footnote_258" class="fnanchor">[258]</a></span> -of the inhabitants of this -lower world.</p> - -<p><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 34</span> -In the time of <span class="person">Dáwir Háryár</span> (the author of Daraí -Sekander), who was of the <span class="title">Kaíánian</span> race and a follower -of the <span class="title">Yezdanian</span> faith, some one said: “The -prophets and faith are higher in dignity than the -sun.” <span class="person">Dawir</span> replied: “Where are now the forms -and bodies of that description of men?” On -which that person having stated the names of the cities -and burial places of the prophets, <span class="person">Dawir</span> rejoined: -“During their whole lifetime, the form of no prophet -or saint ever emitted light, even the distance -of one day’s journey, and since they have been -committed to the earth, not a single ray has been -shed from their graves: and they are now so -blended with the dust that not a trace of them is -left!” The person then said: “the spirits of the -prophets and saints are exceedingly resplendent.” -<span class="person">Dawir</span> retorted: “Behold what amount of light is -diffused by the solar globe! whereas the bodies of -your saints are destitute of splendor; therefore -rest assured that his spirit is more resplendent -than theirs.—Know besides, that the sun is the -heart of the heavens: if he existed not, this world -of formation and dissolution could not continue: -he brings forth the seasons and the productive -energies of nature; moreover, the prophets were -not in the beginning, nor are they in existence -<a name="Page_35" id="Page_35"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 35</span> -now: but the world endures, the seasons rejoice, -and the people are gladdened: this much however -may be conceded, that the prophets and -saints are more exalted than the remainder of the -human race.”—On hearing this, that person was -silenced. Lastly, it is stated in the <span class="title">Akhtaristán</span>, -that the Sipásíán tenets were, that the stars and -the heavens are the shadows of the incorporeal -effulgences; on this account they erected the temples -of the seven planets, and had talismans formed -of metal or stone, suitable to each star: all which -talismans were placed in their proper abode, under -a suitable aspect: they also set apart a portion -of time for their worship and handed down the -mode of serving them. When they performed the -rites to these holy statues, they burned before them -the suitable incense at the appointed season, and -held their power in high veneration. Their temples -were called <dfn>Paikaristan</dfn>, or “image-temples,” -and <dfn>Shidistán</dfn>, or “the abodes of the forms of the luminous -bodies.”</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Description of the worship rendered to the seven -planets according to the Sipasian faith.</span>—It is stated -in the <span class="title">Akhtaristán</span>, that the image of the regent -Saturn was cut out of black stone, in a human shape, -with an ape-like head; his body like a man’s, with -a hog’s tail, and a crown on his head; in the right -<a name="Page_36" id="Page_36"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 36</span> -hand a sieve; in the left a serpent. His temple was -also of black stone, and his officiating ministers were -negroes, Abyssinians and persons of black complexions: -they wore blue garments, and on their -fingers rings of iron: they offered up storax and -such like perfumes, and generally dressed and offered -up pungent viands; they administered myrobalam, -also similar gums and drugs. Villagers and husbandmen -who had left their abodes, nobles, doctors, -anchorites, mathematicians, enchanters, soothsayers -and persons of that description lived in the -vicinity of this temple, where these sciences were -taught, and their maintenance allowed them: they -first paid adoration in the temple and afterwards -waited on the king. All persons ranked among the -servants of the regent Saturn were presented to the -king through the medium of the chiefs and officers -of this temple, who were always selected from the -greatest families in Iran. The words <dfn>Shat</dfn> and <dfn>Tímsar</dfn> -are appellations of honor, signifying dignity, -just as <dfn>Sri</dfn> in Hindi, and <dfn>Hazrat</dfn> in Arabic.</p> - -<p>The image of the regent <span class="title">Hormuzd</span> (Jupiter) was of an -earthy color, in the shape of a man, with a -vulture’s<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_259" id="fnanchor_259"></a><a href="#footnote_259" class="fnanchor">[259]</a></span> -face: on his head a crown, on which were the faces of -a cock and a dragon; in the right hand a turban; in -the left a crystal ewer. The ministers of this temple -<a name="Page_37" id="Page_37"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 37</span> -were of a terrene hue, dressed in yellow and white; -they wore rings of silver and signets of cornelian; -the incense consisted of laurel-berries and such like; -the viands prepared by them were sweet. Learned -men, judges, imans, eminent vizirs, distinguished -men, nobles, magistrates and scribes dwelt in the -street attached to this temple, where they devoted -themselves to their peculiar pursuits, but principally -giving themselves up to the science of theology.</p> - -<p>The temple of the regent -<span class="title">Bahram</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_260" id="fnanchor_260"></a><a href="#footnote_260" class="fnanchor">[260]</a></span> -(Mars) and his -image were of red stone: he was represented in a -human form, wearing on his head a red crown: his -right hand was of the same color and hanging down; -his left, yellow and raised up: in the right was a -blood-stained sword, and an iron verge in the left. -The ministers of this temple were dressed in red -garments; his attendants were Turks with rings of -copper on their hands; the fumigations made before -him consisted of sandaracha and such like; the -viands used here were bitter. Princes, champions, -soldiers, military men, and Turks dwelt in his street. -Persons of this description, through the agency of -the directors of the temple, were admitted to the -king’s presence. The bestowers of charity dwelt -in the vicinity of this temple; capital punishments -were here inflicted, and the prison for criminals -was also in that street.</p> - -<p><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 38</span> -The image of the world-enlightening solar regent -was the largest of the idols; his dome was built of -gold-plated bricks: the interior inlaid with rubies, -diamonds, cornelian and such like. The image of -the Great Light was formed of burnished gold, in -the likeness of a man with two heads, on each of -which was a precious crown set with rubies; and -in each diadem were seven <dfn>sárún</dfn> or peaks. He was -seated on a powerful steed; his face resembling that -of a man, but he had a dragon’s tail; in the right -hand a rod of gold, a collar of diamonds around his -neck. The ministers of this temple were dressed in -yellow robes of gold tissue, and a girdle set with -rubies, diamonds, and other solar stones: the fumigations -consisted of sandal wood and such like: they -generally served up acid viands. In his quarter -were the families of kings and emperors, chiefs, -men of might, nobles, chieftains, governors, rulers -of countries, and men of science: visitors of this -description were introduced to the king by the chiefs -of the temple.</p> - -<p>The exterior of <span class="title">Nahid’s</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_261" id="fnanchor_261"></a><a href="#footnote_261" class="fnanchor">[261]</a></span> -(Venus) temple was of -white marble and the interior of crystal: the form -of the idol was that of a red man, wearing a seven-peaked -crown on the head: in the right hand a flask -of oil, and in the left a comb: before him was burnt -saffron and such like; his ministers were clad in -<a name="Page_39" id="Page_39"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 39</span> -white, fine robes, and wore pearl-studded crowns, -and diamond rings on their fingers. Men were not -permitted to enter this temple at night. Matrons -and their daughters performed the necessary offices -and service, except on the night of the king’s going -there, as then no females approached, but men only -had access to it. Here the ministering attendants -served up rich viands. Ladies of the highest rank, -practising austerities, worshippers of God, belonging -to the place or who came from a distance, goldsmiths, -painters and musicians dwelt around this -temple, through the chiefs and directors of which -they were presented to the king: but the women -and ladies of rank were introduced to the queen by -the female directresses of the temple.</p> - -<p>The dome and image of the regent -<span class="title">Tir</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_262" id="fnanchor_262"></a><a href="#footnote_262" class="fnanchor">[262]</a></span> -(Mercury) -was of blue stone; his body that of a fish, with a -boar’s face: one arm black, the other white; on his -head a crown: he had a tail like that of a fish; in -his right hand a pen, and in the left an inkhorn. -The substances burnt in this temple were gum mastic -and the like. His ministers were clad in blue, -wearing on their fingers rings of gold. At their -feasts they served up acidulous viands. Vizirs, philosophers, -astrologers, physicians, farriers, accountants, -revenue-collectors, ministers, secretaries, merchants, -architects, tailors, fine writers and such like, -<a name="Page_40" id="Page_40"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 40</span> -were stationed there, and through the agency of the -directors of the temple, had access to the king: the -knowledge requisite for such sciences and pursuits -was also communicated there.</p> - -<p>The temple of the regent <span class="title">Mah</span> (the moon) was -of a green stone; his image that of a man seated on -a white ox: on his head a diadem in the front of -which were three peaks: on the hands were bracelets, -and a collar around the neck. In his right -hand an amulet of rubies, and in the left a branch -of sweet basil: his ministers were clad in green and -white, and wore rings of silver. The substances -burnt before this image were gum arabic and such -like drugs. His attendants served up salted viands. -Spies, ambassadors, couriers, news-reporters, voyagers, -and the generality of travellers, and such like -persons resided in his street, and were presented to -the king through the directors of the temple. Besides -the peculiar ministers and attendants, there -were attached to each temple several royal commissioners -and officers, engaged in the execution of the -king’s orders; and in such matters as were connected -with the image in that temple. In the <dfn>Khuristar</dfn> -or “refectory of each temple,” the board was -spread the whole day with various kinds of viands -and beverages always ready. No one was repulsed, -so that whoever chose partook of them. In like -manner, in the quarter adjacent to each temple, was -<a name="Page_41" id="Page_41"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 41</span> -an hospital, where the sick under the idol’s protection -were attended by the physician of that hospital. -Thus there were also places provided for travellers, -who on their arrival in the city repaired to -the quarter appropriated to the temple to which -they belonged.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_263" id="fnanchor_263"></a><a href="#footnote_263" class="fnanchor">[263]</a></span></p> - -<p>It is to be observed, that although the planets are -simple bodies of a spherical form, yet the reason -why the above-mentioned images have been thus -formed, is that the planetary spirits have appeared -in the world of imagination to certain prophets, -saints, and holy sages under such forms; and under -which they are also connected with certain influences; -and as they have appeared under forms different -from these to other persons, their images -have also been made after that fashion.</p> - -<p><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 42</span> -When the great king, his nobles, retinue and the -other Yezdanian went to the temple of Saturn, they -were arrayed in robes of blue and black hues; expressed -themselves with humility, moving with a -slow pace, their hands folded on the breast. In the -temple of <span class="title">Hormuzd</span> (Jupiter), they were dressed in -his colors, as learned men and judges. In that of -<span class="title">Bahram</span> (Mars) they were clad in the robes peculiar -to him, and expressed themselves in an arrogant -manner—but in the temple of the Sun, in language -suitable to kings and holy persons; in that of Venus, -they appeared cheerful and smiling; in the temple -of Mercury they spoke after the manner of sages and -orators; and in the moon’s, like young children and -inferior officers.</p> - -<p>In every private house there were besides images -of the stars, a minute description of which is given -in the <span class="title">Akhtaristan</span>. They had also, in every temple, -the spherical or true forms of the several -planets.</p> - -<p>There was a city called the royal abode or <dfn>saráí</dfn>, -facing which were seven temples. On each day of -the week, in the dress appropriated to each planet, -the king exhibited himself from an elevated <dfn>tabsar</dfn> -or window, fronting the temple of the planet, whilst -the people, in due order and arrangement, offered -up their prayers. For example, on Sunday or -<dfn>Yakshambah</dfn>, he shewed himself clad in a yellow -<a name="Page_43" id="Page_43"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 43</span> -kabá or tunic of gold tissue, wearing a crown of the -same metal, set with rubies and diamonds, covered -with many ornaments of gold from the tabsar, the -circumference of which was embossed with similar -stones: under this window, the several ranks of the -military were drawn out in due gradation, until the -last line took post in the <dfn>kashúdzár</dfn> or ample area, -in which were posted soldiers of the lowest order. -When the king issued forth, like the sun, from the -orient of the tabsar, all the people prostrated themselves -in adoration, and the monarch devoted himself -to the concerns of mankind. The <dfn>Tábsár</dfn> is a -place of observation in a lofty pavilion, which the -princes of Hindustan call a <dfn>jahrokah</dfn> or lattice window: -on the other days, the king appeared with similar -brilliancy from the other Tábsárs. In like manner -the king, on their great festivals, went in choice -garments to the temples of the several images: and -on his return seated himself in the Tábsár, facing the -image of the planet, or, having gone to the <span class="title">Rózistán</span> -or <span class="title">Dádistán</span>, devoted himself to the affairs of -state. This Rozistan was a place which had no -tábsár, where the king seated himself on the throne, -his ministers standing around in due gradation.—The -<dfn>Dádistán</dfn> was the hall of justice, where, when -the king was seated, no one was prevented from -having access to him: so that the king first came to -the Tábsár, then to the rózistán, and lastly to the -<a name="Page_44" id="Page_44"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 44</span> -Dádistán. Also on whatever day a planet moved -out of one celestial house to another, and on all great -festival days, the king went to the temple appropriate -to the occasion. Each of the planetary forms -had also its peculiar Tábsár, in the same manner as -we have before stated concerning the royal Tábsár; -and on a happy day, or festival, they brought the -image to its Tábsár, The king went first and offered -up prayer, standing in the Tábsár of the image, the -nobles placed around according to their gradations, -whilst the people were assembled in great multitudes -in the <span class="title">Kashúdzár</span>, offering up prayers to the planet.</p> - -<p>According to what is stated in the <span class="title">Tímsár -Dasátir</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_264" id="fnanchor_264"></a><a href="#footnote_264" class="fnanchor">[264]</a></span> -that is, in the “Venerable Desátir,” the Almighty -Creator has so formed the celestial bodies, -that from their motions there result certain effects -in this lower world, and, without doubt, all events -here depend on the movements of these elevated -bodies; so that every star has relation to some event, -and every mansion possesses its peculiar nature: -nay, every degree of each sign is endued with a distinct -influence: therefore the prophets of the Lord, -in conformity to his orders, and by great experience, -<a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 45</span> -have ascertained the properties inherent in the degrees -of each celestial mansion, and the influences -of the stars. It is certain that whenever the agent -does not agree with the passive, the result of the -affair will not be fortunate; consequently, when the -prophets and sages desired that the agency of the -planet should be manifested advantageously in the -world, they carefully noted the moment of the star’s -entering the degree most suitable to the desired -event: and also to have at a distance from that point, -whatever stars were unfavorable to the issue. When -all had been thus arranged, whatever was connected -with the productive cause was then completed: they -then bring together whatever is connected with causation -in the lower world: thus all the viands, perfumes, -colors, forms, and all things relating to the -star, being associated, they enter on the undertaking -with firm faith and sure reliance: and whereas the -spirits possess complete influence over the events -which occur in the lower world, when therefore the -celestial, terrestrial, corporeal and spiritual causes -are all united, the business is then accomplished. -But whosoever desires to be master of these powers, -must be well skilled in metaphysics; in the secrets -of nature; and having his mind well stored with the -knowledge of the planetary influences, and rendered -intelligent by much experience. As the union -of such qualifications is rarely or never found, the -<a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 46</span> -truth of this science is consequently hidden from -men. The <span class="title">Abadián</span> moreover say, that the prophets -of the early faith, or the kings of <span class="place">Farsistán</span> and the -<span class="title">Yezdánián</span>, held the stars to be the <span class="title">Kiblah</span> of prayer, -and always paid them adoration, especially when a -star was in its own house or in its ascendant, free -from evil aspects; they then collected whatever bore -relation to that planet, and engaged in worship, -seating themselves in a suitable place, and suffering -no one to come near them: they practised austerities; -and on the completion of their undertaking, exhibited -kindness to the animal creation.</p> - -<p>In the year 1061 of the Hegira (A. D. 1651) the -author, then in <span class="person">Sikakul of -Kalang</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_265" id="fnanchor_265"></a><a href="#footnote_265" class="fnanchor">[265]</a></span> -was attacked -by a disease which no application could alleviate. -An astrologer pronounced, that “the cause of this -malady arises from the overpowering force of -the regent Mars;” on which, several distinguished -Brahmins assembled on the fourth of <span class="time">Zíkâdah</span> (the -9th October) the same year, and having set out the -image of Bahrám and collected the suitable perfumes, -with all other things fit for the operation, -employed themselves in reading prayers and reciting -names; at last, their chief, taking up with -great reverence the image of Mars, thus entreated: -<a name="Page_47" id="Page_47"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 47</span> -“O illustrious angel and celestial leader! moderate -thy heat, and be not wrathful: but be merciful to -such a one” (pointing to me). He then plunged the -image into perfumed water; immediately on the -immersion of the image, the pain was removed.</p> - -<p>In front of each temple was a large fire-temple, -so that there were seven in all: namely, the <span class="title">Kaiwan-ázar</span>, -<span class="title">Hormuz-ázar</span>, <span class="title">Bahrám-ázar</span>, -<span class="title">Hár-ázar</span>, <span class="title">Nahíd-ázar</span>, -<span class="title">Tír-ázar</span>, and <span class="title">Máh-ázar</span>, -so that each fire-temple -was dedicated to one of the seven planets, and -in these they burnt the proper perfumes. They -assert that, during the flourishing empire of the early -monarchs, several sacred structures, such as those -of the Kâbah and the holy temple of Mecca;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_266" id="fnanchor_266"></a><a href="#footnote_266" class="fnanchor">[266]</a></span> -Jerusalem; -the burial-place of Muhammed; the asylum -of prophecy, in Medina; the place of repose of -Alí,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_267" id="fnanchor_267"></a><a href="#footnote_267" class="fnanchor">[267]</a></span> -the prince of the faithful in Najf; the sepulchre -of Imam Husain in Kerbela;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_268" id="fnanchor_268"></a><a href="#footnote_268" class="fnanchor">[268]</a></span> -the tomb of Imam -<a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 48</span> -Musa<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_269" id="fnanchor_269"></a><a href="#footnote_269" class="fnanchor">[269]</a></span> -in Baghdad;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_270" id="fnanchor_270"></a><a href="#footnote_270" class="fnanchor">[270]</a></span> -the mausoleum of Imam Reza<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_271" id="fnanchor_271"></a><a href="#footnote_271" class="fnanchor">[271]</a></span> -in Sanábád of Tús; and the sanctuary of Alí in -Balkh,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_272" id="fnanchor_272"></a><a href="#footnote_272" class="fnanchor">[272]</a></span> -were all in former times idol and fire-temples. -They say that Mahabad after having built a -fire temple, called <dfn>Haftsúr</dfn> or seven ramparts, in Istakhar -of Persia,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_273" id="fnanchor_273"></a><a href="#footnote_273" class="fnanchor">[273]</a></span> -erected a house to which he gave -the name of <span class="title">Abád</span>, and which is at present called the -<span class="title">Kâbah</span>: and which the inhabitants of that country -were commanded to hold in reverence: among the -images of the <span class="title">Kâbah</span> was one of the moon, exceedingly -beautiful, wherefore the temple was called -<span class="title">Máhgáh</span> (Moon’s place) which the Arabs generally -changed into Mekka. They also say that among the -images and statues left in the Kâbah by Mahabad and -<a name="Page_49" id="Page_49"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 49</span> -his renowned successors, one is the black stone,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_274" id="fnanchor_274"></a><a href="#footnote_274" class="fnanchor">[274]</a></span> -the emblem of Saturn. They also say that the prophet -of Arabia worshipped the seven planets, and -he therefore left undisturbed the black stone or Saturn’s -emblem, which had remained since the time -of the Abadian dynasty; but that he broke or carried -away the other figures introduced by the Koreish, -and which were not formed according to the -images of the stars. In most of the ancient temples -of Persia they had formed the symbol of Venus in -the figure of a <dfn>Mihrab</dfn>, or arch, like the altar of the -mosques: consequently the present <dfn>Mihrab</dfn>, or altar, -is that identical symbol: which assertion is also -proved by the respect paid to Friday or the day of -Venus.</p> - -<p>Ibrahim (Abraham), the friend of God, pursued -the same conduct; that is, he rejected the idols -<a name="Page_50" id="Page_50"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 50</span> -which were not of the planetary forms: and the -reverence paid by him to the black stone, according -to ancient tradition, seems to prove that point. -<span class="person">Isfendiar</span>, the son of king -<span class="person">Gushtasp</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_275" id="fnanchor_275"></a><a href="#footnote_275" class="fnanchor">[275]</a></span> -conformed also -to this practice; nay Socrates the Sage, in like manner, -forbad the people to worship any other forms -except those of the planets, and commanded the -statues of the kings to be removed. Moreover, the -holy temple of Jerusalem, or -<span class="title">Kundízh-húhkt</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_276" id="fnanchor_276"></a><a href="#footnote_276" class="fnanchor">[276]</a></span> was -erected by Zohak, and Faridun<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_277" id="fnanchor_277"></a><a href="#footnote_277" class="fnanchor">[277]</a></span> -kindled in it the -holy fire. But long before Zohak’s time, there were -several idol and fire temples in that place. In the -same manner, they say, that when Faridoon turned -his attention to the overthrow of Zohak, during his -journey his brethren having hurled a rock at him, -this revered prince, who was skilled and mighty in -<a name="Page_51" id="Page_51"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 51</span> -all the extraordinary sciences, manifested a wonderous -deed: he prayed to the Almighty that it -might remain suspended in the air, so that the stone -even to this day is known as <span class="title">Kúds Khalíl</span>. They -also say that in <span class="place">Medina</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_278" id="fnanchor_278"></a><a href="#footnote_278" class="fnanchor">[278]</a></span> -the burial place of the prophet, -there was formerly an image of the moon: the -temple in which it was, they called <dfn>Mahdínah</dfn>, or the -“Moon of Religion,” as religion is the moon of -truth, from which the Arabs formed <span class="title">Medinah</span>. -They in like manner relate, that in the most noble -<span class="place">Najf</span>, where now is the shrine of Alí, the prince of -the faithful, there was formerly a fire-temple called -<span class="title">Farógh pírái</span> (the decoration of splendor), and also -“<span class="title">Nakaf</span>,” or <span class="title">Na akaft</span> (no injury), which is at present -denominated <span class="title">Najf</span>. Also at <span class="place">Karbalá</span>, the place where -the Imam Husain reposes, there was formerly a fire-temple -called <span class="title">Mahyársur -ilm</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_279" id="fnanchor_279"></a><a href="#footnote_279" class="fnanchor">[279]</a></span> -and <dfn>Kar bala</dfn> (sublime -agency), at present called <span class="title">Karbela</span>.</p> - -<p>Also in Baghdad, where the Imam Musa reposes, -was a fire-temple called <span class="title">Shet Piráyi</span> (decoration): and -in the place where rest the remains of the great -Imam <span class="person">Abu Hanifah</span>, of Kufah, was a temple called -<dfn>Húryar</dfn> (sun’s friend): also in Kufah, on the site of the -<a name="Page_52" id="Page_52"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 52</span> -mosque, was a fire-temple called <span class="title">Roz-Azar</span> (the day -of fire): and in the region of Tús, on the site of Imam -Resa’s shrine, was a fire-temple called <span class="title">Azar Khirad</span> -(the fire of intellect)—it was also known by many -other appellations, and owes its erection to Faridún.—Also -when <span class="person">Tús</span>, the son of -<span class="person">Názar</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_280" id="fnanchor_280"></a><a href="#footnote_280" class="fnanchor">[280]</a></span> -came to -visit <span class="person">Azar-i-Khirad</span>, he laid near it the foundation of a -city which was called after his name.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_281" id="fnanchor_281"></a><a href="#footnote_281" class="fnanchor">[281]</a></span>—In -Balkh, -where is now the sanctuary of the Imam, formerly -stood a temple called <dfn>Mahin Azar</dfn> (great fire), now -known under the name of <span class="title">Nóbahár</span>. In Ardebil,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_282" id="fnanchor_282"></a><a href="#footnote_282" class="fnanchor">[282]</a></span> -the ancient <dfn>Dizh-i-Bahman</dfn><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_283" id="fnanchor_283"></a><a href="#footnote_283" class="fnanchor">[283]</a></span> -(Bahman’s fort), Kai -Khosrú, on reducing the citadel, constructed there -a fire-temple called <span class="title">Azari-Káus</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_284" id="fnanchor_284"></a><a href="#footnote_284" class="fnanchor">[284]</a></span> -which now serves -as the burial place of the shaikh Sufi Ud-Din, the -ancestor of the Safavean princes:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_285" id="fnanchor_285"></a><a href="#footnote_285" class="fnanchor">[285]</a></span> -they also assert -<a name="Page_53" id="Page_53"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 53</span> -that there were fire-temples in several parts of India: -as in <span class="place">Dwaraka</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_286" id="fnanchor_286"></a><a href="#footnote_286" class="fnanchor">[286]</a></span> -was the temple of Saturn, -called <dfn>Dizh-i-Kaivan</dfn> (Saturn’s fort), which the Hindoos -turned into <span class="title">Dwaraka</span>: and in Gya also was an -idol temple, called <dfn>Gah-i-Kaivan</dfn>, or “Saturn’s residence,” -which was turned into -Gya.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_287" id="fnanchor_287"></a><a href="#footnote_287" class="fnanchor">[287]</a></span>—In -Mahtra -also was an idol temple of Saturn, the name of -which was <span class="title">Mahetar</span>, that is the chiefs or <dfn>mahetar</dfn> -resorted thither; which word by degrees became -<span class="title">Mahtra</span>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_288" id="fnanchor_288"></a><a href="#footnote_288" class="fnanchor">[288]</a></span>—In -like manner several places among -<a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 54</span> -the Christians and other nations bore names which -show them to have been idol-temples. When the -<span class="title">Abadian</span> come to such places, they visit them with -the accustomed reverence, as, according to them -holy places are never liable to abomination or pollution, -as they still remain places of worship and -adoration: both friends and foes regarding them as -a Kiblah, and sinners, notwithstanding all their -perverseness, pray in those sacred edifices. Rai -Gópí Nath<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_289" id="fnanchor_289"></a><a href="#footnote_289" class="fnanchor">[289]</a></span> -thus expresses himself:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0">O Shaikh! behold the dignity of my idol-house;</div> - <div class="i0">Even when destroyed, it remains the house of God!</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>There is not on record a single word repugnant -to reason from the time of Mahabad to that of Yasan -Ajam; and if they have recourse to allegory, they -then express its figurative nature. From these -princes to the Gilshaiyan there are many figurative -expressions, all of which they interpret. For example, -they say that the tradition of Siamak being -slain by the hand of a demon implies, that in successive -battles, through ignorance of himself and -God, he unwittingly destroyed this elementary body; -thus, wherever, in the language of this sect, mention -<a name="Page_55" id="Page_55"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 55</span> -is made of a demon, they always understand a man -of that description, as has been explained in the -<span class="title">Paiman-i-ferhang</span>, or “Excellent Code.” They also -maintain that, in some passages, the rendering the -demons obedient, and slaying them, is a figurative -mode of expressing a victory gained over the pleasures -of sense, and the extirpation of evil propensities: -in like manner, whatever is related about the -appearance of angels to virtuous and holy persons, -is the revelation and vision of good spirits, whilst in -a state of sleep, transport, recovery from excess, or -abstraction from the body; which states are truly -explained in this work. They say that Zohak’s two -serpents, <span class="title">do-mar</span>, and ten fires (vices) or <span class="title">deh ak</span>, -imply irascibility and sensuality: the devil, his carnal -soul, and in some places his disposition—the -two pieces of flesh which broke out on Zohak’s -shoulders in consequence of his evil deeds, appeared -to the human race like serpents, the pain caused by -which could only be alleviated by the application of -human brains. They also say that the celebrated -<dfn>Simúrgh</dfn><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_290" id="fnanchor_290"></a><a href="#footnote_290" class="fnanchor">[290]</a></span> -(griffin) was a sage, who had retired from -the world and taken up his peaceful abode in the -<a name="Page_56" id="Page_56"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 56</span> -mountains: he was therefore called by this name, -and was the instructor of <span class="person">Dastan</span>, the son of Sám; -so that Zál, through his instruction, attained the -knowledge of the occult sciences. As to the current -tradition about Kai-Káus attempting to ascend to -Heaven, and his downfall, this occurred, according -to them, during his sleep, and not when he was -awake. Kai Nishín, his brother, who had retired -from all intercourse with mankind, thus interprets -the adventure of Káus: “The four eagles are the -four elements; the throne, the predominating -passions; the lance, their energy and impetuosity -in the desire of sensual gratifications; the thighs -of flesh, their various pursuits of anger, passion, -lust, and envy; their ascent implies that they may -be subdued by religious austerities, and by the aid -of their energy be made the means of ascending -to the world on high and the supreme Heaven; -their fall, instead of reaching Heaven’s eternal -mansions, intimates that if, even for a short period, -we become careless about repressing evil -propensities, and desist from the practice of mortification, -the passions will return back to their -nature, or wander from the eternal paradise, the -natural abode of souls:” the hemistich, “<em>during -one moment I was heedless, and he was removed -from me a journey of a hundred years</em>,” is applicable -to such a state.</p> - -<p><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 57</span> -Rustam’s<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_291" id="fnanchor_291"></a><a href="#footnote_291" class="fnanchor">[291]</a></span> -bringing back Kai Káus to his throne -from the forest into which he had fallen, means, his -bringing back intelligence into the king’s soul, and -turning him back from the desert (lit. meadow), of -natural infirmity: Kai Kaus therefore, by direction -of Kai Nishin, his younger brother, but his elder -in purity of faith and good works, remained forty -days in retirement, until in the state of sleep, -through the awakening of his heart, he beheld this -heavenly vision. They also assert, whatever modern -writers have declared, relative to -<span class="title">Khizr</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_292" id="fnanchor_292"></a><a href="#footnote_292" class="fnanchor">[292]</a></span> and -Iskander, having penetrated into the regions of darkness, -where the former discovered the fountain of -life immortal, means, that the Iskander, or the intellectual -soul, through the energy of the Khizr, or -<a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 58</span> -reason, discovered, whilst in the state of human -darkness, the water of life, or the knowledge of the -rational sciences, or the science which forms the -proper object of intellect—as to what they say about -Iskander’s returning back empty-handed, by that is -meant, that to expect eternal duration in this evanescent -abode being altogether absurd, he consequently -could not attain that object, and therefore -departed to the next world. What they record -about Khizr’s drinking of that water, means, that -the perfection of intellect exists not through the -medium of body, and that reason has no need of -body, or any thing corporeal, either as essence or -attribute.</p> - -<p>In some passages they interpret the tradition after -this manner; by Khizr is meant the intellectual -soul, or rational faculty, and by Iskander the animal -soul, or natural instinct; the Khizr of the intellectual -soul, associated with the Iskander of the animal -soul, and the host (of perceptions) arrived at the -fountain-head of understanding, and obtained immortality, -whilst the Iskander of the animal soul returned -back empty-handed.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_293" id="fnanchor_293"></a><a href="#footnote_293" class="fnanchor">[293]</a></span> -It must be remarked, -<a name="Page_59" id="Page_59"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 59</span> -that this sect explain after this manner, whatever -transgresses the rules of probability, or cannot be -weighed in the balance of comprehension; in short, -all that is contrary to reason. They also say purification -is of two kinds; the <span class="title">amighi</span> or true, and the -<span class="title">ashkari</span> or apparent: the first consists in not defiling -the heart with any thing; in not attaching it -to the concerns of this treacherous world, emancipating -it from all ties and prejudice, maintaining -no connection with any object whatever, and washing -away all bias from the soul. The <dfn>Ashkari</dfn>, or -apparent, consists in removing to a distance whatever -appears unclean; consequently this purification -is effected with water which has undergone no -change of color, smell, or taste: that is, which is -free from bad color, smell, or taste; if otherwise, -rose-water and such like are more to be commended. -Ablution requires a <dfn>kur</dfn>, or a measure of lustral -water; that is, according to them, the measure for a -man, is that quantity into which he can immerge his -head; for an elephant, a quantity proportioned to -his bulk; and for a gnat, a single drop of water. -They reckon it meritorious to recite the prayers and -texts of the <span class="title">Shat Dasátír</span>, relative to the unity of the -<a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 60</span> -self-existent Creator, the great dignity of intelligence -and souls, with the pains of the superior and inferior -bodies; after which they repeat the benedictions -of the seven planets, particularly on their days, and -offer up the appropriate incense. The worshipper -after this recites the praises of the guardian of the -month, and those of the days of the month; for example, -if it be the month of -<span class="title">Farvardin</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_294" id="fnanchor_294"></a><a href="#footnote_294" class="fnanchor">[294]</a></span> -the believer -repeats benedictions on that angel, and then on each -of the regents of the days of that month: particularly -the regent of that day called by the same name -as the month: which day is also regarded as a -festival.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_295" id="fnanchor_295"></a><a href="#footnote_295" class="fnanchor">[295]</a></span> -For instance, in the month of <span class="title">Farvardin</span>, he -utters benedictions on the angel <span class="title">Farvardin</span>, who is -one of the cherubim on whom that month is dependent; -if it be the first day of the month, called the -<a name="Page_61" id="Page_61"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 61</span> -day of <dfn>Hormuz</dfn> (the angel who superintends the first -day of the month), the believers address their benedictions -to <span class="title">Hormuz</span>; and act in a similar manner on -the other months and their respective days. According -to them, the names of the months are called after -the names of their lords; and the appellations of the -days are according to the names of their respective -regents: consequently, as we have said, the believer -adores the lord of the month, and on festivals, pays -adoration to the angel who is the lord of the month -and the day.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_296" id="fnanchor_296"></a><a href="#footnote_296" class="fnanchor">[296]</a></span> -According to the Abadian, although -<a name="Page_62" id="Page_62"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 62</span> -in a month, the name of the month and of the day -be the same, this coincidence makes not that day -dependant on the month, but on the regent who -bears the same name with him, consequently it is -necessary to celebrate a festival. In the same manner, -on the other days of every month, salutations -are paid every morning to the regent of the day: also -during the <dfn>Sudbar</dfn>, or the intercalary days, they -offer up praises to their angels. They also regard -the angels of the days as the ministers to the angels -of the months, all of whom are subject to the majesty -of the Great Light—in like manner the other -stars (planets) have also angels dependent on them: -they also believe that the angels dependent on each -<a name="Page_63" id="Page_63"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 63</span> -star (planet) are beyond all number: and finally, that -the angelic host belonging to the solar majesty are -reckoned the highest order. Besides, on the period -at which any of the seven planets passes from one -zodiacal mansion to another, they make an entertainment -on the first day, which they regard as a -festival, and call it <dfn>Shadbar</dfn>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_297" id="fnanchor_297"></a><a href="#footnote_297" class="fnanchor">[297]</a></span> -or “replete with joy.” -Every month also, on the completion of the lunar -revolution, on ascertaining its reappearance from -astronomical calculation, they make great rejoicings -on the first day: there is in like manner a great -festival when any star has completed its revolution, -which day they call <dfn>Dádram</dfn>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_298" id="fnanchor_298"></a><a href="#footnote_298" class="fnanchor">[298]</a></span> -or “banquet decking.” -Thus, although there is a festival every day -of the week in some idol-temple or other, as has -been before stated, relative to the day of <dfn>Nahid</dfn>, or -Friday, in the temple of this idol: yet on the day of -the Sun, or <dfn>Yakshambah</dfn> (the first day of the week), -there was a solemn festival at which all the people -assembled. In like manner they made a feast whenever -a star returned to its mansion or was in its -zenith.</p> - -<p><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 64</span> -They believe it wrong to hold any faith or religious -system in abhorrence, as according to them, -we may draw near to God in every faith: also that -no faith has been abolished by divine authority—they -hold that, on this account, there have been so -many prophets, in order to shew the various ways -which lead to God. Those who carefully investigate -well know, that the ways which lead to heaven -are many; nay more than come within the compass -of numbers. It is well understood, that access to a -great sovereign is more easily attained through the -aid of his numerous ministers; although one of the -prince’s commanders be on bad terms with his confidential -advisers, or even should all the chiefs not -co-operate with each other; yet they can promote -the interest of their inferiors: therefore it is not -proper to say that we can get to the God of all existence -by one road only. But the insurmountable -barrier in the road of approaching God is the slaughter -of the Zindíbar, that is, those animals which -inflict no injury on any person, and slay not other -living creatures, such as the cow, the sheep, the -camel, and the horse: there is assuredly no salvation -to the author of cruelty towards such, nor can -he obtain final deliverance by austerities or devotions -of any description. Should we even behold -many miraculous works performed by the slayer of -harmless animals, we are not even then to regard -<a name="Page_65" id="Page_65"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 65</span> -him as one redeemed; the works witnessed in him -are only the reward of his devotions, and the result -of his perseverance in the practice of religious austerities -in this world: and as he commits evil, he -cannot be perfect in his devout exercises, so that -nothing but suffering can await him in another -generation (when born again): such an instance of -an ascetic endued with miraculous powers is likened -in the Shat Dasatir<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_299" id="fnanchor_299"></a><a href="#footnote_299" class="fnanchor">[299]</a></span> -to a vase externally covered -with choice perfumes, but filled internally with impurities. -They also maintain that in no system of -faith is cruelty to innoxious animals sanctioned: and -all human sanction for such acts proceeds from their -attending to the apparent import of words, without -having recourse to profound or earnest consideration—for -example, by putting a horse or cow to -death is meant, the removal or banishing from one’s -<a name="Page_66" id="Page_66"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 66</span> -self animal propensities, and not the slaughtering -or devouring of innoxious creatures. They state -the later historians to have recorded without due -discrimination that Rustam, the son of Dastan (who -was one of the perfect saints), used to slay such animals: -whereas tradition informs us, that the mighty -champion pursued in the chase noxious animals -only: what they write about his hunting the wild -ass, implies that the elephant-bodied hero called the -lion a wild ass; or “that a lion is no more than a -wild ass when compared to my force.” In the -several passages where he is recorded to have slaughtered -harmless wild asses and oppressed innoxious -creatures, and where similar actions are ascribed to -some of the Gilsháíyán princes, there is only implied -the banishment of animal propensities and passions: -thus the illustrious Shaikh Farideddin ât´ár declares,</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“In the heart of each are found a hundred swine;</div> - <div class="i0">You must slay the hog or hind on the Zanar.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_300" id="fnanchor_300"></a><a href="#footnote_300" class="fnanchor">[300]</a></span></div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>They hold that, from the commencement to the -very end, the chiefs of the Persian Sipásíán, far from -slaughtering these harmless creatures, regarded as -an incumbent duty to avoid and shun, by every precaution, -the practice of oppression or destruction -towards them: nay, they inflicted punishment on -the perpetrators of such deeds. Although they esteem -<a name="Page_67" id="Page_67"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 67</span> -the Gilsháíyán prophets, pontiffs, and princes, -exceedingly holy personages, yet in their opinion, -they come not up in perfect wisdom and works to -the preceding apostles and sovereigns, who appeared -from the Yassánián to the end of the Máhábádíán -race.</p> - -<p>They assert that some innoxious animals suffer -oppression in this generation by way of retribution: -for instance, an ox or a horse, which in times long -past had, through heedlessness, wantonness, or -without necessity, destroyed a man: as these creatures -understand nothing but how to eat and drink, -consequently when they obtain a new birth, they -carry burdens, which is by no means to be regarded -as an act of oppression, but as a retribution or retaliation -for their previous misconduct. They are not -put to death, as they are not naturally destructive -and sanguinary: their harmless nature proves that -they cannot be reckoned among the destroyers of -animal life: so that putting them to death is the same -as destroying an ignorant harmless man: therefore -their slayer, though he may not receive in this world -the merited punishment from the actual ruler or -governor, appears in the next generation under the -form of a ferocious beast, and meets his deserts. A -great man says on this subject:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“In every evil deed committed by thee, think not that it</div> - <div class="i0">Is passed over in Heaven or neglected in the resolutions of time;</div> -<a name="Page_68" id="Page_68"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 68</span> - <div class="i0">Thy evil deeds are a debt, ever in the presence of fortune,</div> - <div class="i0">Which must be repaid, in whatever age she makes the demand.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>They also hold the eternal paradise to be the Heavens; -and regard the solar majesty as lord of the -empyrean; and the other stars, fixed or planetary, -as his ministers: thus a person who, through religious -mortifications and purity of life, attains righteousness -in words and deeds, is united with the sun -and becomes an empyreal sovereign: but if the proportion -of his good works bear a closer affinity to -any other star, he becomes lord of the place assigned -to that star: whilst others are joined to the firmament -on high: the perfect man passes on still farther, -arriving at the æthereal sphere, or the region -of pure spirits; such men attain the beatific vision of -the light of lights and the cherubinic hosts of the -Supreme Lord. Should he be a prince during -whose reign no harmless animals were slaughtered -in his realms; and who, if any were guilty of these -acts, inflicted punishment on the perpetrators of the -crimes, so that no such characters departed this -world without due retribution; he is esteemed a -wise, beneficent, and virtuous king: and immediately -on being separated from the elements of body, -he is united with the sun: his spirit is identified -with that of the majesty of the great light and he -becomes an æthereal sovereign. Prince Siamak, -the son of Kaiomors declares: “I beheld from first -<a name="Page_69" id="Page_69"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 69</span> -to last all the Abádíán, Jyáníán, Sháíyán, and -Yassáníán monarchs: some were cherubim in the -presence of the Supreme Lord; others absorbed -in the contemplation of the Light of Lights: but -I found none lower than the sphere of the sun, -the vicegerent of God.” On my asking them concerning -the means of attaining these high degrees, -they said: “The great means of acquiring this dignity -consist in the protection of harmless animals, -and inflicting punishment on evil doers.”</p> - -<p>According to this sect, labouring under insanity, -suffering distress on account of one’s children, being -assailed by diseases, the visitations of providence, -these calamities are the retribution of actions in a -former state of existence. If a person should fall -down or stumble when running, even this is regarded -as the retribution of past deeds: as are also -the maladies of new-born babes. But whatever -happens to a just man, which is evidently unmerited, -this is not to be looked on as retribution, but as proceeding -from the oppression of the temporal ruler, -from whom, in a future generation, the Supreme -Ruler will demand an account.</p> - -<p>According to their tenets, the drinking of wine or -strong liquors to excess, or partaking of things which -impair the understanding, is by no means to be tolerated: -which may be proved by this reflexion, that -the perfection of man is understanding, and that intoxicating -<a name="Page_70" id="Page_70"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 70</span> -beverages reduce human nature, whilst in -that state, to a level with the brute creation. If a -person drink strong liquors to excess, he is brought -before the judge to receive due castigation; and -should he, during that state, do injury to another, -he is held accountable for it, and is punished also -as a malefactor.</p> - -<p>Among this sect it is permitted to kill those animals -which oppress others, such as lions, fowls, -and hawks, which prey on living creatures: but -whatever animals, whether noxious or innoxious, -suffer violence from the noxious, duly receive it by -way of retribution: when they slay the former, or -noxious animals, that is regarded as a retribution, -because in a former existence they were oppressive -and sanguinary creatures: and in this generation the -Almighty has given them over to other more sanguinary -animals, that they might shed the blood of -the sanguinary bloodshedder: so that when noxious -creatures are slain, it is by way of retribution for -having shed blood: the very act of shedding their -blood proves them to have been formerly shedders -of blood: it is not however allowed to put them to -death until they become hurtful: for example, a -young sparrow cannot, whilst in that state, commit -an injury; but, when able to fly, it injures the insects -of the earth; and, although this happens to the insects -by way of retributive justice, yet their slayers -<a name="Page_71" id="Page_71"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 71</span> -become also deserving of being slain, as in a former -generation they have been shedders of blood. For -instance, a person has unwittingly slain another, for -which crime he has been thrown into prison; on -which they summons one of the other prisoners to -behead the murderer: after which the judge commands -one of his officers to put the executioner -to death, as, previous to this act, he had before -shed blood unjustly. But if a man slay a noxious -animal, he is not to be put to death, because that -person taking into consideration the noxious animal’s -oppression, has inflicted retribution on it: -but if a brave champion or any other be slain in -fighting with a noxious creature; this was his merited -retribution; and it is the same if an innoxious -animal be slain in fighting with a noxious creature: -for example, in a past generation the ox was -a man endued with many brutal propensities, who -with violence and insolence forced people into his -service and imposed heavy burdens on them, until -he deprived some of them of life: therefore in this -generation, on account of his ruling propensities, he -comes in the form of an ox, that he may receive the -retribution due to his former deeds, and in return -for his having shed blood, should be himself slain -by a lion or some such creature. But mankind are -not permitted to kill the harmless animals, and these -are not shedders of blood: and if such an act should -<a name="Page_72" id="Page_72"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 72</span> -be inadvertently perpetrated by any individuals, destructive -animals are then appointed to retaliate on -them, as we have explained under the head of the ox.</p> - -<p>The best mode to be adopted by merciful men -for putting to death destructive creatures, such as -fowls, sparrows, and the like, is the following: let -them open a vein, so that it may die from the effusion -of blood: there are many precepts of this kind recorded -in the <span class="title">Jashen Sudah</span> of the <span class="title">Móbed Hoshyár</span>: -but philosophers, eminent doctors, and durveshes -who abandon the world, never commit such acts: -it is however indispensably necessary that a king, in -the course of government, should inflict on the evildoer -the retaliation due to his conduct. The Móbed -<span class="title">Hoshyár</span> relates, in the -<span class="title">Sarud-i-Mastán</span>, that in -the time of Kaíomors and Siamak, no animal of -any kind was slain, as they were all obedient to the -commands of these princes. So that one of the <dfn>Farjúd</dfn>, -or miraculous powers possessed by the Yezdanian -chiefs of Iran, from Kaíomors to Jemshíd, was -their appointing a certain class of officers to watch -over the animal creation, so that they should not -attack each other. For instance, a lion was not -permitted to destroy any animal, and if he killed one -in the chase, he met with due punishment; consequently -no creature was slain or destroyed, and carnage -fell into such disuse among noxious animals, -that they were all reckoned among the innoxious. -<a name="Page_73" id="Page_73"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 73</span> -However, the skins of animals which had died a -natural death were taken off, and in the beginning -used as clothing by Kaíomors and his subjects: but -they were latterly satisfied with the leaves of trees. -Those who embrace the tenets of this holy race attribute -this result to the miraculous powers of these -monarchs, and some profound thinkers regard it as -effected by a <dfn>talisman</dfn>; whilst many skilled in interpretation -hold it to be an enigmatical mode of expression: -thus, the animal creation submitting to government -implies, the justice of the sovereigns; their vigilance -in extirpating corruption and evil, and producing -good. In short, when in the course of succession -the Gilsháíyán crown came to Húshang, he enjoined -the people to eat the superabundant eggs of ducks, -domestic fowls, and such like, but not to such a -degree that, through their partaking of such food, -the race of these creatures should become extinct. -When the throne of sovereignty was adorned by the -presence of Tahmúras, he said, “It is lawful for -carnivorous and noxious creatures to eat dead -bodies:” that is, if a lion find a lifeless stag, or a -sparrow a dead worm, they may partake of them. -In the same manner, when Jemshid assumed the -crown, he enacted: “If men of low caste eat the flesh -of animals which die a natural death, they commit -no sin.” The reason why people do not at -present eat of animals which died in the course of -<a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 74</span> -nature, is, that their flesh engenders disease, as the -animal died of some distemper: otherwise there is -no sin attached to the eating of it. When Jemshid -departed to the mansions of eternity, <span class="person">Deh -Ak</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_301" id="fnanchor_301"></a><a href="#footnote_301" class="fnanchor">[301]</a></span> the -Arab, slew and partook of all animals indifferently, -whether destructive or harmless, so that the detestable -practice became general. When Faridún had -purged the earth from the pollution of Zohák’s -tyranny, he saw that some creatures, hawks, lions, -wolves, and others of the destructive kind, gave -themselves up to the chase in violation of the original -covenant: he therefore enjoined the slaughter -of these classes. After this, Jraj permitted men of -low caste, that is the mass of the people, to partake -of destructive creatures, such as domestic fowls -(which prey upon worms), also sparrows and such -like, in killing which no sin is incurred: but the -holy Yezdanians never polluted their mouths with -flesh, or killed savage animals for themselves, although -they slew them for others of the same class. -For example, the hawk, lion, and other rapacious -animals of prey were kept in the houses of the great, -for the purpose of inflicting punishment on other -destructive animals, and not that men should partake -of them: for eating flesh is not an innate quality in -men, as whenever they slay animals for food, ferocity -settles in their nature, and that aliment introduces -<a name="Page_75" id="Page_75"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 75</span> -habits of rapacity: whereas the true meaning of putting -destructive animals to death, is the extirpation -of wickedness. The Yezdanians also have certain -viands, which people at present confound with animals -and flesh: for instance, they give the name of -<dfn>barah</dfn>, “lamb,” to a dish composed of the <dfn>zingú</dfn>, or -egg-mushroom; <dfn>gaur</dfn>, or “onager” is a dish made -out of cheese: with many others of the same kind. -Although they kill destructive animals in the chase, -they never eat of them; and if in their houses they -kill one destructive animal for the food of another, -such as a sparrow for a hawk, it is done by a man -styled <dfn>Dazhkím</dfn>, or executioner, who is lower than a -<dfn>Milar</dfn>, called in <span class="title">Hindi</span>, <dfn>Juharah</dfn> or “sweeper,” and -in modern language <dfn>Hallál Khúr</dfn>, or one to whom -all food is lawful. But the dynasty preceding Gilshah, -from whom the Yezdanians derive their tenets, -afforded no protection whatever to destructive animals, -as they esteemed the protection of the oppressor -most reprehensible. In the time of the Gilsháíyán -princes, they nourished hawks and such like, for the -purpose of retaliating on destructive animals; for -example, they let loose the hawk on the sparrow, -which is the emblem of <span class="title">Ahriman</span>; and when the -hawk grew old, they cut off his head and killed him -for his former evil deeds. The first race never kept -any destructive creatures, as they esteemed it criminal -to afford them protection; and even their destruction -<a name="Page_76" id="Page_76"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 76</span> -never took place in the abodes of righteous -and holy persons.</p> - -<p>Among the Sipasíyan sect were many exemplary -and pious personages, the performers of praiseworthy -discipline: with them, however, voluntary -austerity implies “religious practices” or <dfn>Saluk</dfn>, -and consists not in extreme suffering, which they -hold to be an evil, and a retribution inflicted for -previous wicked deeds. According to this sect, -the modes of walking in the paths of God are manifold: -such as seeking God; the society of the -wise; retirement and seclusion from the world; -purity of conduct; universal kindness; benevolence; -reliance on God; patience; endurance; contentedness; -resignation; and many such like qualities—as -thus recorded in the <span class="title">Sarúd-i-Mustán</span> of -the <span class="title">Móbed Hushyar</span>. The <span class="title">Móbed Khodá Jáí</span>, in the -“Cup of <span class="title">Kái Khusró</span>,” a commentary on the text -of the poem of the venerable <span class="person">Azar Kaivan</span>, thus relates: -“He who devotes himself to walking in the -path of God, must be well-skilled in the medical -sciences, so that he may rectify whatever predominates -or exceeds in the bodily humours: in the -next place, he must banish from his mind all -articles of faith, systems, opinions, ceremonials, -and be at peace with all: he is to seat himself in -a small and dark cell, and gradually diminish the -quantity of his food.” The rules for the diminution -<a name="Page_77" id="Page_77"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 77</span> -of food are thus laid down in the <span class="title">Sharistan</span> -of the holy doctor <span class="person">Ferzanah Bahram</span>, the son of -<span class="person">Farhád</span>: “From his usual food, the pious recluse -is every day to subtract three direms, until he -reduces it to ten direms weight: he is to sit in -perfect solitude, and give himself up to meditation.” -Many of this sect have brought themselves -to one direm weight of food: their principal devotional -practice turning on these five points: namely, -fasting, silence, waking, solitude, and meditation on -God. Their modes of invoking God are manifold, -but the one most generally adopted by them is that -of the <span class="title">Múk Zhúp</span>: now in the <dfn>Azanan</dfn> or <dfn>Pehlevi</dfn>, -<dfn>Múk</dfn> signifies “four,” and <dfn>Zhúp</dfn> “a blow;” this -state of meditation is also called <dfn>Char Sang</dfn>, “the -four weights,” and <dfn>Char Kúb</dfn>, “the four blows.” -The next in importance is the <dfn>siyá zhúp</dfn>, “the three -weights” or “three blows.” The sitting postures -among these devotees are numerous; but the more -approved and choice are limited to eighty-four; out -of these they have selected fourteen; from the fourteen -they have taken five; and out of the five two are -chosen by way of eminence: with respect to these -positions, many have been described by the <span class="title">Móbud -Sarúsh</span> in the <span class="title">Zerdúsht Afshár</span>: of these two, the -choice position is the following: The devotee sits -on his hams, cross-legged, passing the outside of -the right foot over the left thigh, and that of the left -<a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 78</span> -foot over the right thigh; he then passes his hands -behind his back, and holds in his left hand the great -toe of the right foot, and in the right hand the great -toe of the left foot, fixing his eyes intently on the -point of the nose: this position they call <dfn>Farnishin</dfn>, -“the splendid seat,” but by the Hindi Jogies it is -named the <dfn>Padma ásan</dfn>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_302" id="fnanchor_302"></a><a href="#footnote_302" class="fnanchor">[302]</a></span> -or “Lotus seat.” If he -then repeat the <span class="title">Zekr-i-Mukzhub</span>, he either lays hold -of the great toes with his hands, or if he prefer, -removes his feet off the thighs, seating himself in the -ordinary position, which is quite sufficient—then, -with closed eyes, the hands placed on the thighs, -the armpits open, the back erect, the head thrown -forward, and fetching up from the navel with all -his force the word <dfn>Nist</dfn>, he raises his head up: next, -in reciting the word <dfn>Hésti</dfn>, he inclines the head -towards the right breast; on reciting the word <dfn>Magar</dfn>, -he holds the head erect; after which he utters -<dfn>Yezdan</dfn>, bowing the head to the left breast, the seat -of the heart. The devotee makes no pause between -the words thus recited; nay, if possible, he utters -several formularies in one breath, gradually increasing -their number. The words of the formulary -(<dfn>Nist hesti magar yezdan</dfn>, “there is no existence -save God”) are thus set forth: “Nothing exists -but God;” or, “There is no God, but God;” or, -<a name="Page_79" id="Page_79"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 79</span> -“There is no adoration except for what is adorable;” -or this, “He to whom worship is due is pure and -necessarily existent;” or, “He who is without -equal, form, color, or model.” It is permitted -to use this formulary publicly, but the inward meditation -is most generally adopted by priests and holy -persons; as the senses become disturbed by exclamations -and clamors, and the object of retirement is -to keep them collected. In the inward meditation, -the worshipper regards three objects as present: -“God, the heart, and the spirit of his Teacher;” -whilst he revolves in his heart the purport of this -formulary: “There is nothing in existence but -God.” But if he proceeds to the suppression of -breath, which is called the “knowledge of <dfn>Dam</dfn> -and <dfn>Súmrad</dfn>,” or the science of breath and imagination, -he closes not the eyes, but directs them -to the tip of the nose, as we have before explained -under the first mode of sitting: this institute has -also been recorded in the <span class="title">Surud-i-Mastan</span>, but the -present does not include all the minute -details.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_303" id="fnanchor_303"></a><a href="#footnote_303" class="fnanchor">[303]</a></span></p> - -<p><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 80</span> -It is thus recorded in the <span class="title">Zerdúsht Afshár</span>; the -worshipper having closed the right nostril, enumerates -the names of God from once to sixteen times, -and whilst counting draws his breath upwards; -after which he repeats it twenty-two times, and lets -the breath escape out of the right nostril, and whilst -counting propels the breath aloft; thus passing from -the six Kháns or stages to the seventh; until from -the intensity of imagination he arrives to a state in -which he thinks that his soul and breath bound like -the jet of a fountain to the crown of the head: they -enumerate the seven stages, or the seven degrees, in -this order: 1st, the position of sitting; 2d, the -hips; 3d, the navel; 4th, the pine-heart; 5th, the -windpipe; 6th, the space between the eyebrows; -and 7th, the crown of the head. As causing the -breath to mount to the crown of the head is a power -peculiar to the most eminent persons; so, whoever -can convey his breath and soul together to that part, -becomes the viceregent of God. According to another -institute, the worshipper withdraws from all -senseless pursuits, sits down in retirement, giving -up his heart to his original world on high, and without -moving the tongue, repeats in his heart Yezdan! -Yezdan! or God! God! which address to the -Lord may be made in any language, as Hindi, Arabic, -etc. Another rule is, the idea of the Instructor: -the worshipper imagines him to be present and is -<a name="Page_81" id="Page_81"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 81</span> -never separated from that thought, until he attains -to such a degree, that the image of his spiritual -guide is never absent from the mind’s eye, and he -then turns to contemplate his heart: or he has a -mirror before his sight, and beholds his own form, -until, from long practice, it is never more separated -from the heart, to which he then directs himself: -or he sits down to contemplate his heart, and reflects -on it as being in continual movement. In all -these cases he regards the practices of the suppression -of the breath as profitable for the abstraction -of thought: an object which may also be effected -without having recourse to it.</p> - -<p>Another rule is, what they call <dfn>ázád áwá</dfn>, or the -“free voice;” in Hindi <dfn>Ánahid</dfn>; and in Arabic -<dfn>Sáut Mutluk</dfn>, or “the absolute sound.” Some of -the followers of Mohammed relate, that it is recorded -in the traditions, that a revelation came to -the venerable prophet of Arabia resembling “the -tones of a bell,” which means the “Sáut Mutluk:” -which Hafiz of Shiraz expresses thus:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i2">“No person knows where my beloved dwells:</div> - <div class="i0">This much only is known, that the sound of the bell approaches.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">The mode of hearing it is after this manner: the -devotees direct the hearing and understanding to -the brain, and whether in the gloom of night, in the -house, or in the desert, hear this voice, which they -<a name="Page_82" id="Page_82"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 82</span> -esteem as their <dfn>Zikker</dfn>, or “address to God.” -Azizi<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_304" id="fnanchor_304"></a><a href="#footnote_304" class="fnanchor">[304]</a></span> -thus expresses himself:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“I recognise that playful sportiveness,</div> - <div class="i0">And well know that amount of blandishment:</div> - <div class="i0">The sound of footsteps comes to my ear at night;</div> - <div class="i0">It was thyself; I recognise the hallowed voice!”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>Then having opened the eyes and looking between -the eyebrows, a form appears. Some of those -who walk in the path of religious poverty among -the followers of Mohammed (on whom be benedictions!) -assert that the expression <dfn>Kab Kausain</dfn>, “I -was near two bows’ length,” alludes to this vision. -Finally, if they prefer it, having closed the eyes for -some time, they reflect on the form which appeared -to them on looking between the eyebrows; after -which they meditate on the heart; or without -contemplating the form, they commence by looking -into the heart; and closing both eyes and ears, -give themselves up entirely to meditation on the -heart, abandoning the external for the internal: -<a name="Page_83" id="Page_83"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 83</span> -whoever can thus contemplate obtains all that he -wants; but</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“The anguish of my friend strikes at the portal of the heart;</div> - <div class="i0">Command them, O, Sháni! to purify the dwelling of the heart.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>Finally the searcher after the Being who is without -equal or form, without color or pattern, whom -they know and comprehend in the Parsi under the -name of “<span class="title">Izad</span>,” in Arabic by the blessed name of -“<span class="title">Allah</span>,” and in Hindi as “<span class="title">Para Brahma Náráyaran -a</span>,”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_305" id="fnanchor_305"></a><a href="#footnote_305" class="fnanchor">[305]</a></span> -contemplates him without the intervention of Arabic, -Persian, Hindi, or any other language, keeping -the heart in his presence, until he, being rescued -from the shadows of doubt, is identified with God. -The venerable <span class="person">Maulaví Jami</span> says on this head:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Thou art but an atom, He, the great whole; but if for a few days</div> - <div class="i0">Thou meditate with care on the whole, thou becomest one with it.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>They hold that reunion with the first principle, -which the Sufees interpret by evanescence and -permanence, means not, according to the distinguished -Ishrakian<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_306" id="fnanchor_306"></a><a href="#footnote_306" class="fnanchor">[306]</a></span> -or Platonists of Persia, that -the beings of accident or creation are blended with -him whose existence is necessary, or that created -beings cease to exist; but that when the sun of the -first cause manifests himself, then apparently all -created beings, like the stars in the sun’s light, are -<a name="Page_84" id="Page_84"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 84</span> -absorbed in his divine effulgence; and if the searcher -after God should continue in this state, he will comprehend -how they become shrouded through the -sun’s overpowering splendor, or like the ecstatic -Sufees he will regard them as annihilated: but the -number of Sufís who attain to this state is exceedingly -small, and the individuals themselves are but -little known to fame. This volume would not be -sufficient to enumerate the amount of those lights -(precepts) which direct the pilgrim on his course, -but the venerable <span class="person">Azur Kaiván</span> has treated at large -on this head in the <span class="title">Jám-i-Kai Khusró</span>.</p> - -<p>It is, however, necessary to mention that there -are four states of vision; the first, -<dfn>Núníar</dfn>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_307" id="fnanchor_307"></a><a href="#footnote_307" class="fnanchor">[307]</a></span> -or that -which is seen during sleep: by sleep is meant that -state when the subtile fumes arising from the food -taken into the stomach mounting up to the brain, -overpower external perceptions at the time of repose: -whatever is then beheld is called in Farsi -<dfn>Tínáb</dfn>, in Arabic <dfn>Rúyá</dfn>, and in Hindi -<dfn>Svapna</dfn>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_308" id="fnanchor_308"></a><a href="#footnote_308" class="fnanchor">[308]</a></span> The -state beyond this dignity is -<dfn>Susvapna</dfn>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_309" id="fnanchor_309"></a><a href="#footnote_309" class="fnanchor">[309]</a></span> in Arabic -<dfn>Ghaib</dfn> or “mysterious,” and in the popular language -<a name="Page_85" id="Page_85"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 85</span> -of the Hindoos <dfn>Sukhásváda</dfn><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_310" id="fnanchor_310"></a><a href="#footnote_310" class="fnanchor">[310]</a></span> -or <dfn>Samádhi</dfn><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_311" id="fnanchor_311"></a><a href="#footnote_311" class="fnanchor">[311]</a></span> (suspending -the connexion between soul and body), -which is as follows: when divine grace is communicated -from the worlds on high, and the transport -arising from that grace locks up external perceptions, -whatever is beheld during that state is called -<dfn>Binab</dfn> or “revelation:” but that state into which -the senses enter, or <dfn>Hóshwázhen</dfn>, “a trance,” which -is expressed in Arabic by <dfn>Sahú</dfn> or “recovering -from ebriety,” and in Hindi by -<dfn>Jagrat</dfn>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_312" id="fnanchor_312"></a><a href="#footnote_312" class="fnanchor">[312]</a></span> “awaking,” -and <dfn>Pratyaya</dfn> “evidence,”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_313" id="fnanchor_313"></a><a href="#footnote_313" class="fnanchor">[313]</a></span> -means that state in which -divine grace being communicated, without the senses -being overpowered, it transports the person for the -time being to the world of reality: whatever he beholds -in this state is called <dfn>Bínáb</dfn> or <dfn>Mâainah</dfn> “reality.” -The state higher than this is the power of -the soul to quit the body and to return to it, which -is called in Farsi <dfn>Nívah-i-chaminah</dfn>, in Arabic <dfn>Melkát -Khalâ-baden</dfn>, and in Hindu <dfn>prapura -paroksha</dfn>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_314" id="fnanchor_314"></a><a href="#footnote_314" class="fnanchor">[314]</a></span></p> - -<p>They affirm that the bodies occupied by some -souls resemble a loose garment, which may be put -off at pleasure; so that they can ascend to the world -<a name="Page_86" id="Page_86"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 86</span> -of light, and on their return become reunited -with the material elements. The difference between -<dfn>Sahú</dfn> and <dfn>Khalâ</dfn> is this: <dfn>Sahú</dfn> means, being -absorbed in meditation on the communication of -divine grace, so that, without a relaxation of the -senses, the person may, for the time being, actually -abide in the invisible world: whereas <dfn>Khalâ</dfn> means, -that the individual, whenever he pleases, separates -himself from the body and returns to it when he -thinks fitting. The spiritual Maulavi thus says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Shout aloud, my friends! for one person has separated himself from the body;</div> - <div class="i0">Out of a hundred thousand bodies, one person has become identified with God.”</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p>According to this sect there are seven worlds: -the first is absolute existence and pure being, which -they call <dfn>Arang</dfn><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_315" id="fnanchor_315"></a><a href="#footnote_315" class="fnanchor">[315]</a></span> -or “divinity;” the second is the -world of intelligences, which they call <dfn>Birang</dfn> or -“the empyreal;” the third is that of souls, called -<dfn>Alrang</dfn> or the angelic; the fourth that of the superior -bodies, or <dfn>Nirang</dfn>; the fifth, the elementary or -<dfn>Rang</dfn>; the sixth the compounds of the four elements, -or <dfn>Rang-a-Rang</dfn>: but according to the Sufís -all bodies, whether superior or inferior, are named -<dfn>Málk</dfn> or region; the seventh is <dfn>Sarang</dfn>, which -<a name="Page_87" id="Page_87"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 87</span> -is that of man or of human beings: but in some -Parsi treatises they term these seven regions the -seven true realities: however, if the author were to -describe minutely the articles and ceremonies of this -sect, their details would require so many volumes, -that contenting himself with what has been stated, -he now proceeds to describe some of their most -distinguished followers of later times.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_228" id="footnote_228"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_228"><span class="muchsmaller">[228]</span></a> - Here begins the translation of David Shea.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_229" id="footnote_229"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_229"><span class="muchsmaller">[229]</span></a> - <span class="title">Serúsh</span> or <span class="title">Serósh</span>, -is derived from the Zend, and signifies properly -<dfn>sí-roz</dfn>, that is “thirty days, a month.” To the adorers of the stars, -Serósh is the name of an angel who presides over the 17th day of the -month; according to their religion, he is moreover the most active of -the celestial spirits; as king of the earth, he passes every day and every -night three times through his empire; his throne is the summit of the -world; all light, all intelligence, he purifies and fertilizes the earth, -blesses and protects mankind, strikes the evil spirits; in short, he is adored -equal to the supreme being. (See <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Zend Avesta, par Anquetil du Perron</cite>, -<span class="decoration"><abbr title="One">I.</abbr></span> -<abbr title="Second Part">2. P.</abbr> <span class="decoration"><abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr></span> 80, 156, 228, 404, 415; <span class="decoration"><abbr title="Two">II.</abbr></span> 320, 330, 223, 235, 237).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_230" id="footnote_230"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_230"><span class="muchsmaller">[230]</span></a> - The text given by Gladwin (<cite>see the New Asiatic Miscellany, <abbr title="volume one page">vol. I. -p.</abbr> 93</cite>), and the manuscript of Oude, have no negative before خجسته; -the sense would therefore be: “if his words had been plausible, but the -deeds bad.” The <abbr title="edition">edit.</abbr> of Calcutta gives the sense -as above.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_231" id="footnote_231"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_231"><span class="muchsmaller">[231]</span></a> - Gladwin translates this passage as follows (<cite>ibid., <abbr title="page">p.</abbr></cite> 94): “If a deserving -soul produces good words and deeds,” which is in accordance with -the text he followed, and with that of the <abbr title="edition">edit.</abbr> of Calcutta; but Shea’s -translation is justified by the manuscript of Oude, which has: -<span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">بي پسنديده اقوال فرّخی افعال</span>.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_232" id="footnote_232"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_232"><span class="muchsmaller">[232]</span></a> - According to Gladwin, after <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">باره </span> once followed in a series by <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">هزار</span> -the same word is to be always understood—thus <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">يک هزار باره فردرا</span> -is not a thousand <dfn>fard</dfn>, but one million <dfn>fard</dfn>. This word is not in the Burhan:—I -have therefore followed Gladwin’s authority. But in the Desátir, -or “Sacred Writings of the ancient Persian Prophets in the original -tongue,” published at Bombay in 1818, the following passage occurs in -the commentary of the Vth Sasan (English <abbr title="translation">transl.</abbr> <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 36): “They call a -thousand times a thousand years a <dfn>ferd</dfn>; and a thousand <dfn>ferds</dfn>, a <dfn>werd</dfn>; -and a thousand <dfn>werds</dfn>, a <dfn>merd</dfn>; and a thousand <dfn>werds</dfn>, a <dfn>jád</dfn>; and -three thousand <dfn>jáds</dfn>, a <dfn>wád</dfn>; and two thousand <dfn>wads</dfn>, a <dfn>zád</dfn>;” etc.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_233" id="footnote_233"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_233"><span class="muchsmaller">[233]</span></a> - <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">هيربد</span> “Hirbed” (see Thomas Hyde, <cite>Veterum Persarum et Parthorum -et Medorum Religionis Historia, Oxon <abbr title="two">ii.</abbr></cite> 1760, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 369-372) was -called a priest of the fire-worship; according to oriental authors, a priest -of the ancient Persians was in general, called formerly <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">مغ </span>, ‘magh,’ or -<span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">موغ</span> ‘mogh,’ that is “excellent,” hence Magus, a Magian. The Magi are -mentioned by Herodotus, and, according to Aristotle, were more ancient -than the Egyptian priests. Clitarchus and Strabo, contemporaries, the -one of Alexander, the other of Augustus, speak of the Magi. The latter -says (<abbr title="liber 15">lib. XV.</abbr>): -<span lang="el" xml:lang="el">Εν δε τη Καππαδοκία, πολύ ἐστι το τῶν Μάγων φῦλον οἱ καὶ Πύρεθοι καλοῦνται·</span> -“In Kappadocia is a great multitude of Magi, -called also Pyrethi.” (See Selden, De Dis Syris syntagma, Lipsiæ, 1662, -<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 317, 318). An order superior to this class of priests was the <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">موغ بد</span>, -‘mógh bed,’ or <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">موبد</span>, ‘mobed,’ a ‘prefect, or judge of the Magi,’ of -the learned priests, or of the worshippers of the sun, in a general sense, -a wise man, adorer of the sun. A third order of Persian priests was called -<span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">دستور</span>, ‘dastur,’ or ‘superintendant.’ (See also <cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, translated -by Anquetil du Perron, <abbr title="tome Two, pages">t. II, pp.</abbr> 516, 517, 553, 555.)—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_234" id="footnote_234"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_234"><span class="muchsmaller">[234]</span></a> - <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">ब्रह्मन्</span> “Brahman.”</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_235" id="footnote_235"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_235"><span class="muchsmaller">[235]</span></a> - Gladwin “Mahuristar.” We read in the Commentary upon article 145 -of the Desatir, English translation, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 27: “In Pehlevi the Huristars are -called <span class="title">Athurnâns</span>—They are the Mobeds and Hirbuds whose duty is -to guard the faith, to confirm the knowledge and precepts of religion, -and to establish justice.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_236" id="footnote_236"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_236"><span class="muchsmaller">[236]</span></a> - <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">क्षत्त्रः, क्षत्त्रियः, क्षत्त्री</span>, ‘kshatra, kshatriya, kshatri,’ a man of the military -class, from <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">क्षद्</span> to divide, or eat, rather from <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">क्षेत्रं</span>, <dfn>kshétram</dfn>, -‘field,’ which they are to protect. This last from <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">क्षि</span>, <dfn>kshi</dfn>, ‘to dwell.’</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_237" id="footnote_237"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_237"><span class="muchsmaller">[237]</span></a> - <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">छत्रं</span>, ‘<dfn>chhatraḿ</dfn>,’ a parasol, an umbrella, from <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">छद</span> ‘chhada,’ to -cover.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_238" id="footnote_238"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_238"><span class="muchsmaller">[238]</span></a> - “The Núristárs in Pehlevi are named <span class="title">Rehtishtáran</span>, and are the -princes and warriors who are called to grandeur and superiority, and -command, and worldly sway.” <cite><abbr title="Commentary upon article">Comment. upon art.</abbr> 145 of the Desatir</cite>, -<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 27.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_239" id="footnote_239"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_239"><span class="muchsmaller">[239]</span></a> - <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">विश, वैश्य</span>, ‘<dfn>viś</dfn>, <dfn>vaiśya</dfn>, ‘a man of the mercantile tribe,’ from -<span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">विश</span>, ‘viś,’ to enter.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_240" id="footnote_240"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_240"><span class="muchsmaller">[240]</span></a> - “The Suristars in Pehlevi are denominated <span class="title">Washteryû´shán</span>, and are -devoted to every kind of business and employment.” <cite><abbr title="Commentary">Comment.</abbr> upon -the Desatir</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 27.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_241" id="footnote_241"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_241"><span class="muchsmaller">[241]</span></a> - <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">शुद्र</span>, <dfn>śudra</dfn>, a man of the fourth or servile class, from <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">शुच</span>, <dfn>such</dfn>, -to purify.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_242" id="footnote_242"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_242"><span class="muchsmaller">[242]</span></a> - “The Ruzistars are in Pehlevi styled Hotukhshan, and are artisans -and husbandmen.”—<cite><abbr title="Commenatary upon the Desatir">Comm. upon the Des.</abbr></cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_243" id="footnote_243"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_243"><span class="muchsmaller">[243]</span></a> - The names <span class="title">Huristar</span>, <span class="title">Nuristar</span>, <span class="title">Suristar</span>, and <span class="title">Ruzistar</span>, of the four -classes of the people, are to be found in the Desatir (<abbr title="article">artic.</abbr> 145, -English translation, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 27), from which work the author of the Dabistan -is likely to have taken them, as various other information. As -this division of a nation is undoubtedly suggested by the natural state -of things, it has been attributed to more than one ancient king, and -by Ferdúsi, in his Shah-namah, to Jemshid, under four denominations -belonging to the ancient Persian language. These are as follows: -1ᵒ <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">اموزيان</span>, <span class="title">Amuzian</span>; 2ᵒ <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">نيساريان</span>, -<span class="title">Nisarian</span>; 3ᵒ <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">نسودی</span>, -<span class="title">Nasudi</span>; 4ᵒ <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">اهنو خوشی</span>, <span class="title">Ahnu khushi</span>, corresponding to the learned, -the warriors, the husbandmen, and the mechanics. The first of -these names, <span class="title">Amuzian</span>, is easily recognised in the Persian <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">اموختن</span>, -<dfn>amokhten</dfn> (Imp. <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">اموز</span> <dfn>amuz</dfn>), “to teach, to learn;” the second <dfn>nisarian</dfn> -is the same with <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">نيساری</span>, <dfn>nisari</dfn>, the common Persian word for a warrior; -the third, <dfn>nasudi</dfn>, is a Pehlevi noun (see Hyde, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 437); the fourth, -<span class="title">Ahnu´khu´shí</span>, appears composed of <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">اهنو</span>, <dfn>ahnu</dfn>, “provisions, meat” (to -be traced to <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">आह्निक</span>, <dfn>ahnika</dfn>, “daily work, food”), and of <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">خوشی</span>, -<dfn>khushi</dfn>, “good, content,” or from <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">خواستن</span> <dfn>khástan</dfn>, “to ask.” Upon -the four classes of the people see also <cite>History of the early kings of -Persia, translated from the Persian of Mirkhond, entitled the Rauza-us-safa”</cite> -by David Shea, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 108-113.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_244" id="footnote_244"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_244"><span class="muchsmaller">[244]</span></a> - The text of Gladwin has <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">دستانير</span>, <dfn>destânir</dfn>, the edition of Calcutta -and the manuscript of Oude have <span class="title">Dasátir</span>. The single volume published -under that name at Bombay (see <a href="#footnote_232">note</a> page 14), if genuine at all, can be -considered but as a very small part of the great work, said to comprehend -all languages and sciences.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_245" id="footnote_245"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_245"><span class="muchsmaller">[245]</span></a> - This faith is also called <span class="title">Fersendáj</span>, and the great Ábád himself -<span class="title">Ferzábád</span>, and <span class="title">Búzúgábad</span>, -(<abbr title="Dasátir, English Translation">Dasát., Engl. Transl.</abbr>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 27, -58, 187).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_246" id="footnote_246"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_246"><span class="muchsmaller">[246]</span></a> - <span class="title">Burz</span>, with the Arabic article <span class="title">Al-burz</span>, is a mountain in Jebal or -Irak Ajemi, not far distant from, and to the north of, the town Yezd in -the province of Fars, where, from very remote times to our days, a great -number of fire-temples existed. Alburz belongs to a fabulous region; -this name is given to several mountains, among which the great Caucasus -is distinguished from the <dfn>tirah</dfn>, or “little,” Alburz.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_247" id="footnote_247"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_247"><span class="muchsmaller">[247]</span></a> - This word reminds of <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">जिन</span>, <dfn>jina</dfn>, or <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">जैन</span>, -<dfn>jaina</dfn>, from <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">जि</span>, <dfn>ji</dfn>, ‘to -conquer’ or ‘excel,’ a generic name of distinguished persons, belonging -to the Jaina sect of Hindus.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_248" id="footnote_248"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_248"><span class="muchsmaller">[248]</span></a> - This is evidently the Sanskrit word <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">यशस्</span>, <dfn>yaśas</dfn>, “fame, glory, - celebrity, splendor,” and <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">यशस्वान</span>, <dfn>yaśasvan</dfn>, - “famous, celebrated.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_249" id="footnote_249"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_249"><span class="muchsmaller">[249]</span></a> - Gladwin has <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">نيمور</span>, <dfn>nimur</dfn>; the edition of Calcutta and the manuscript -of Oude have <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">تيمور</span> <dfn>timur</dfn>.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_250" id="footnote_250"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_250"><span class="muchsmaller">[250]</span></a> - Gil-shah, “Earth-King,” also “the King formed of clay.” According to -the <cite>Mojmil-al-Tavarikh</cite> (see Extracts from this work by Julius Mohl, <abbr title="esquire">Esq.</abbr>, -<abbr title="Journal Asiatique">Journ. Asiat.</abbr>, February 1841, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 146), -he was so called, because he governed -the then not inhabited earth. Gil-shah is one of the names given -to the first man or King; in the <cite>Desátir</cite> (<abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> -70, 131) he is called Giomert, -Gilshadeng; by others Kaiomars (see also <cite>Rauzat-us-Safa</cite> of Mirkhond, -translated by D. Shea, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 50).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_251" id="footnote_251"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_251"><span class="muchsmaller">[251]</span></a> - This number differs considerably from the chronology of other Asiatics. -Here follow the periods enumerated in the <cite>Epitome of the ancient -History of Persia, extracted and translated from the Jehan Ara</cite>, by -Sir Wil. Ouseley (<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 71-74).</p> - -<table class="fn1 epub xs" summary=""> -<colgroup> - <col span="1" style="width: 3em;" /> - <col span="1" style="width: 8em;" /> - <col span="1" style="width: 3em;" /> -</colgroup> -<tr><td class="centerb">Ruled</td> - <td class="centerb">mean of X different data</td> - <td class="right">years.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left">Peshádian</td> - <td class="centerb">4</td> - <td class="right">2531</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left">Kaiánián</td> - <td class="centerb">4</td> - <td class="right">704</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left">Ashkánián</td> - <td class="centerb">11</td> - <td class="right">352</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left">Sásánian</td> - <td class="centerb">7</td> - <td class="right u"> 500</td></tr> -<tr><td colspan="2" class="right"><span class="sc">Total</span></td> - <td class="right u">4087</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="footnote unindent">As Yezdejird’s reign terminated 651 or 653 years of our era, the beginning -of the Peshdádíán, according to the Dabistan, is placed 6024-651=5373 -years before <abbr title="Jesus Christ">J. C.</abbr>—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_252" id="footnote_252"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_252"><span class="muchsmaller">[252]</span></a> - Adopting the just computed period of 4087 years between Yezdegird -and the 1st of the Péshdadíán, Kaiomars would have begun to reign 3436 -years before Christ; according to the Shahnamah, it was 3529 years before -our era; Sir W. Jones places him 890 years B. C. (see his Works, <abbr title="volume Twelve, octavo edition">vol. XII, -8vo edit.</abbr> <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 399).</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_253" id="footnote_253"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_253"><span class="muchsmaller">[253]</span></a> - Síyamak the son of Gilshah or Kaiomors, was killed in a battle against -the Divs.</p> - -<table class="fn1 epub xs" summary=""> -<colgroup> - <col span="1" style="width: 8em;" /> - <col span="1" style="width: 7em;" /> - <col span="1" style="width: 7em;" /> -</colgroup> - -<tr><td></td> - <td class="center muchsmaller">ACCORDING TO<br />FERDUSI:</td> - <td class="center muchsmaller">ACCORDING<br />TO SIR W. JONES:</td></tr> -<tr><td class="center">began to reign</td> - <td class="center">years B. C.</td> - <td class="center">years B. C.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left2"><a name="footnote_254" id="footnote_254"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_254"><span class="muchsmaller">[254]</span></a>Húshang</td> - <td class="center">3499;</td> - <td class="center">865</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="left2"><a name="footnote_255" id="footnote_255"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_255"><span class="muchsmaller">[255]</span></a>Tehmúras</td> - <td class="center">3469;</td> - <td class="center">835</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="left2"><a name="footnote_256" id="footnote_256"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_256"><span class="muchsmaller">[256]</span></a>Jemshíd</td> - <td class="center">3429;</td> - <td class="center">800</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="footnote unindent">Jemshíd, also called Jermshár in the <span class="title">Desátir</span> -(<abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 88, 89), according to -Ferdusi the son of Tehmúras, according to the <span class="title">Zend-Avesta</span> the son of -Viverghám, brother or son of Tahmúras. He, or rather his dynasty, ruled -700 years the Persian empire. He is believed to have been the first who -amongst the Persians regulated the solar year, the commencement of -which he fixed at the vernal equinox, about the 5th of April (see <cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, -by Anquetil du Perron, <abbr title="volume Two, page">vol. II, p.</abbr> 82). He is also distinguished -by the epithet <span class="title">Sad-wakhshur</span>, which signifies “hundred prophets;” to -him is ascribed the book <a name="Javedan" id="Javedan"></a><cite>Javedan Khirad</cite>, “eternal intelligence,” which -is said to have been translated into Greek, with other books, by order of -Alexander (see <cite>Desátir</cite>, English <abbr title="translation, pages">transl. -pp.</abbr> 79, 153, 163).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_257" id="footnote_257"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_257"><span class="muchsmaller">[257]</span></a> - Zohak, the son of a sister of Jemshíd, usurped the throne of his uncle -and sovereign, according to Ferdusi, 2729 years B. C.; according to Helvicus, -2248; according to Jackson, 1964; but only 780 years B. C., according -to Sir W. Jones who, in general, fixes the ancient Persian reigns much -lower than other chronologers. Zohak is also called <span class="title">Pivar-asp</span>, or <span class="title">Bivar-asp</span>, -from the circumstance of his always keeping ten thousand Arabian -horses in his stables, for <dfn>Bivar</dfn>, says Ferdusi, from the Pehlevi, in counting -means in the Dárí tongue, ten thousand (see Rauzat-us-safá, <abbr title="Translation, page">Translat., -p.</abbr> 123; and also Mojmel-al-Tavarikh). The empire which Zokah founded -is identified by some historians with the Assyrian monarchy of Semiramis, -or with a Semitic domination in general. It lasted, according to the -Orientals, 1000 years; according to Ctesias, Diodorus Siculus, Justin and -Syncellus 13 or 1400, according to Herodotus only 520 years.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_258" id="footnote_258"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_258"><span class="muchsmaller">[258]</span></a> - Kiblah signifies that part to which people direct their face in prayer, -the temple of Mecca to the devout Muhammedans; in a general sense, -it means the object of our views or wishes.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_259" id="footnote_259"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_259"><span class="muchsmaller">[259]</span></a> - The text has <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">کرگس</span>, <dfn>Kerges</dfn>, -a bird, feeding on carcasses, and living -one hundred years.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_260" id="footnote_260"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_260"><span class="muchsmaller">[260]</span></a> - Bahram is also called <span class="title">Manishram</span> (Desátir, - <abbr title="English translation, page">Engl. transl. p.</abbr> 79).</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_261" id="footnote_261"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_261"><span class="muchsmaller">[261]</span></a> - Nahid appears also under the name of <span class="title">Ferehengíram</span> - (ibid., <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 90).</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_262" id="footnote_262"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_262"><span class="muchsmaller">[262]</span></a> - Tir, also <span class="title">Temirám</span> (ibid., - <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 102).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_263" id="footnote_263"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_263"><span class="muchsmaller">[263]</span></a> - It was from time immemorial to our days the practice of the Asiatics -to refer the common affairs of life to the stars, to which they attribute a -constant and powerful influence over the nether world. Thus Húmaiun the -son of Baber, emperor of India (see the History of Ferishta, translated by -general John Briggs, <abbr title="volume Two, page">vol. II, p.</abbr> 71) -“caused seven halls of audience to be -built, in which he received persons according to their rank. The first, -called the palace of the Moon, was set apart for ambassadors, messengers -and travellers. In the second, called the palace of <span class="title">Utarid</span> (Venus), -civil officers, and persons of that description, were received; and there -were five other palaces for the remaining five planets. In each of these -buildings he gave public audience, according to the planet of the day. -The furniture and paintings of each, as also the dresses of the household -attendants, bore some symbol emblematical of the planet. In -each of these palaces he transacted business one day in the week.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_264" id="footnote_264"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_264"><span class="muchsmaller">[264]</span></a> - Gladwin has <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">تيمار وساتير</span> -<span class="trans">timar Vasátir</span>, the manuscript of Oude -<span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">تيمار دسيتير</span> <span class="trans">tímár dasyátir</span>, -the edition of Calcutta <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">تيمسار دساتير</span>, -<span class="trans">tímsár dasatir</span>, which is the right reading, as the word “<span class="trans">timsar</span>” is explained -in the index of obsolete or little known terms by these words: -<span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">کلمهٔ تعظيم بمعنی</span> “a word expressing respect.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_265" id="footnote_265"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_265"><span class="muchsmaller">[265]</span></a> - Cicacole, a town in the northern districts of the Coromandel coast, -anciently named Kalinga, the ancient capital of an extensive district of -the same name, <abbr title="latitude">lat.</abbr> 18<abbr title="degrees">°</abbr> 21<abbr title="minutes">′</abbr> <abbr title="North">N.</abbr>, - <abbr title="longitude">long.</abbr> 83<abbr title="degrees">°</abbr> 57<abbr title="minutes">′</abbr> <abbr title="East">E.</abbr>—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_266" id="footnote_266"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_266"><span class="muchsmaller">[266]</span></a> - The Muhammedans distinguish particularly two temples, or mosques: -the first, the principal object of their veneration, is the <dfn>Masjed al Haram</dfn>, -or “the Sacred mosque,” that is to say, the temple of Mecca, where is -also the <dfn>Kâbah</dfn>, or “the Square-edifice,” built, as they say, by Abraham -and his son Ismael. The second of the temples is the <dfn>Masjed al Nabí</dfn>, -“the mosque of the Prophet,” who preached and is buried in it.—(<cite>Herbelot.</cite>)—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_267" id="footnote_267"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_267"><span class="muchsmaller">[267]</span></a> - Ali, the son of <span class="person">Abu Taleb</span>, the cousin and son in law of Muhammed. -Ali was assassinated in the mosque of Kufa, and buried near this town, -in the province of Irak, the Babylonian, on the right bank of the Euphrates.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_268" id="footnote_268"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_268"><span class="muchsmaller">[268]</span></a> - Kerbela is a district of Irak, the Babylonian, or of Chaldæa, not far -from Kufa, and west of the town called Kaser Ben Hóbeirah. It is famous -on account of the death and sepulchre of Hóssáin, the son of Ali, who -was killed there, fighting against the troops of Yezid, son of Moavia, who -disputed the khalifat with him.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_269" id="footnote_269"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_269"><span class="muchsmaller">[269]</span></a> - Músa was the seventh of the twelve Imams whom the Shiites revere. -He was born in the year of the Hegira 128 (745 A. D.), and died in 183 -(799 A. D.).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_270" id="footnote_270"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_270"><span class="muchsmaller">[270]</span></a> - Baghdad, a town in the province Irak Arabí.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_271" id="footnote_271"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_271"><span class="muchsmaller">[271]</span></a> - The Imam Reza was the eighth Imam of the race of Alí; he was called -Alí Ben Mússa al Kadhem, before he received the title Reza or Redha (one -in whom God is pleased) from the Khalif Almamúm, when the latter -appointed him his successor, but survived the Imam, who died A. D. 818.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_272" id="footnote_272"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_272"><span class="muchsmaller">[272]</span></a> - Balkh, a town in Khorasan, situated towards the head of the river -Oxus, in <abbr title="latitude North">lat. N.</abbr> 36<abbr title="degrees">°</abbr> 28<abbr title="minutes">′</abbr>; - <abbr title="longitude">long.</abbr> 65<abbr title="degrees">°</abbr> 16<abbr title="minutes">′</abbr>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_273" id="footnote_273"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_273"><span class="muchsmaller">[273]</span></a> - Persepolis, in Persia proper.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_274" id="footnote_274"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_274"><span class="muchsmaller">[274]</span></a> - For the black stone, consult Dart’s Antiquities of Westminster, -<abbr title="volume Two, page">vol. II, p.</abbr> 12; Matthew of Westminster, - <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 430.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote">Stones, especially when distinguished by some particular form or -colour, were in the most ancient times venerated as the only then possible -monuments, consecrated to some respected person, or to some Divinity. -Thus the ancient Arabians venerated a square stone as sacred -(see Selden de Dis Syris, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 291, 292). It is known that the Muhammedans -bestow a particular veneration upon a black stone, which is attached -to the gate of their mosque at Mecca (Herbelot, <abbr title="Bibliothèque orientale">Bibl. orient.</abbr> sub voce). -It is evident that the followers of Muhammed, who is the prophet of a -comparatively recent religion, appropriated to themselves more than one -object and place of the most ancient veneration by merely changing its -name, and attaching to it a legend in accordance to their own belief.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_275" id="footnote_275"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_275"><span class="muchsmaller">[275]</span></a> - According to Ferdusi in his Shah-namah, Gushtasp (Darius, son of -Hystaspes, 519 B. C.) was induced by Zerdusht to adopt a reformed doctrine -which prescribed the adoration of fire, and was probably a purer -sort of Sabæism, as practised by the most enlightened magi of very ancient -times. Isfendiar, Gushtasp’s son, a zealous promoter of this religion, -erected fire-temples in all parts of his empire (see also Rauzat-us-safa, -Shea’s <abbr title="translation">transl.</abbr>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 285).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_276" id="footnote_276"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_276"><span class="muchsmaller">[276]</span></a> - The Persian text of Gladwin reads: <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">کنکدژ</span> “<dfn>Gangdezh.</dfn>”</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_277" id="footnote_277"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_277"><span class="muchsmaller">[277]</span></a> - Faridun, the son of Abtin, restored the power of the Péshdádían -according to Ferdusi, 1729 years B. C.; according to Sir W. Jones and -other chronologers, 750 years before our era. Faridun, or rather his -dynasty, reigned 500 years; according to the Boundehesh and the Mujmel-ul-tavárikh -during the 500 years of Feridun, twelve generations intervened -between Faridun, and Manutcheher, his grandson.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_278" id="footnote_278"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_278"><span class="muchsmaller">[278]</span></a> - Medina signifies a town in general, but in particular that of Jatreb, -in Arabia, in the province of Hajiaz, to which town Muhammed fled -when obliged to abandon Mecca, on the 16th July, 622 of our era, which -is the first year of the <dfn>Hejira</dfn>, “flight.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_279" id="footnote_279"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_279"><span class="muchsmaller">[279]</span></a> - The text of Gladwin reads. <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">مه تازسوز علم</span> “<dfn>Mahtársúz ilm.</dfn>”</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_280" id="footnote_280"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_280"><span class="muchsmaller">[280]</span></a> - Názar is the eighth king of the Péshdadíán, placed by Ferdusi 1109 -years B. C.; by the modern chronologers 715-708 B. C. He had two -sons, Tús and Gustaham.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_281" id="footnote_281"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_281"><span class="muchsmaller">[281]</span></a> - The foundation of the town Tus, in Khorasan, is also attributed to -Jemshíd.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_282" id="footnote_282"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_282"><span class="muchsmaller">[282]</span></a> - Ardebil, a town in the province called Azerbijan, which is a part of -the ancient Media.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_283" id="footnote_283"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_283"><span class="muchsmaller">[283]</span></a> - Bahman, son of Isfendiar.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_284" id="footnote_284"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_284"><span class="muchsmaller">[284]</span></a> - Káus, the second king of the Kaían dynasty, whose reign began, -according to Ferdusi, 955 years B. C.; he is supposed by western historians, -to be Darius, the Mede, of the Greeks, and placed by them 600, -634-594 years B. C.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_285" id="footnote_285"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_285"><span class="muchsmaller">[285]</span></a> - The Safavean dynasty began in 1499 A. D. by Shah-Ismail, who -derives his origin from Musa, already mentioned as the seventh imam of -the Muselmans. All his ancestors were considered as pious men and -some as saints. The first of this family who gained a great reputation -was Shaik Sufi Ud-din, from whom this dynasty takes the name of Sufaviah. -His son was Sudder Ud-din. The monarchs of that time used to -visit his cell. Timur asked him what favour he could bestow on him. -The saint answered: “Set free all the prisoners whom thou hast brought -from Turkey.” The conqueror granted this request, and the grateful -tribes declared themselves the disciples of the man to whom they owed -their liberty. Their children preserved the sacred obligation of their -ancestors, and placed the son of the pious Eremite upon the throne of -Persia. (<cite>Malcolm’s <abbr title="History">Hist.</abbr> of Persia.</cite>)—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_286" id="footnote_286"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_286"><span class="muchsmaller">[286]</span></a> - Dwaraka, an ancient town, built by Krichna, destroyed by a revolution -of nature; actually exists a town and celebrated temple of that name, -in the province of Guzrat, situated at the <abbr title="southwest">S. W.</abbr> extremity of the peninsula, -<abbr title="latitude">lat.</abbr> 22<abbr title="degrees">°</abbr> 21<abbr title="minutes">′</abbr> -<abbr title="North">N.</abbr>; <abbr title="longitude">long.</abbr> 69<abbr title="degrees">°</abbr> -15<abbr title="minutes">′</abbr> <abbr title="East">E.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_287" id="footnote_287"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_287"><span class="muchsmaller">[287]</span></a> - “The true name is <span class="place">Gáyá</span>, a town in the province of Bahar, 55 miles -south from Patna, <abbr title="latitude">lat.</abbr> 24<abbr title="degrees">°</abbr> -49<abbr title="minutes">′</abbr> N.; long. 85<abbr title="degrees">°</abbr> 5<abbr title="minutes">′</abbr> -<abbr title="East">E.</abbr> It is one of the holy -places of the Hindus, to which pilgrimages are performed. It was made -holy by the benediction of Vichnu, who granted its sanctity to the piety -of Gáyá the Rájarchi; or according to another legend, to Gáyá, the Asura, -who was overwhelmed here by the deities, with rocks. This place is also -considered by some Hindus either as the birthplace or as the residence -of Buddha, from which circumstance it is usually termed Buddha-Gáyá -(<abbr title="Hamilton, East India">Hamilt. E. I.</abbr> Gazetteer. -Wilson’s <abbr title="Dictionary">Dict.</abbr> sub voce).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_288" id="footnote_288"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_288"><span class="muchsmaller">[288]</span></a> - Mathura, a town in the province of Agra, situated on the east side of -the Jumna, 30 miles <abbr title="Northeast">N. E.</abbr> by <abbr title="North">N.</abbr> -from the city of Agra, <abbr title="latitude">lat.</abbr> 27<abbr title="degrees">°</abbr> 32<abbr title="minutes">′</abbr>; -<abbr title="longitude">long.</abbr> 77<abbr title="degrees">°</abbr> 37<abbr title="minutes">′</abbr> -<abbr title="East">E.</abbr> This place is much celebrated and venerated by the -Hindus, as the scene of the birth and early adventures of Krichna (<abbr title="Hamilton Gazetteer">Hamilt. -Gazet.</abbr>).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_289" id="footnote_289"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_289"><span class="muchsmaller">[289]</span></a> - This is an entirely Indian name: Gópínath, “the lord of the cowherds’ -wives,” a name of Krichna.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_290" id="footnote_290"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_290"><span class="muchsmaller">[290]</span></a> - According to oriental Romance, the Si-murgh, or Enka, is endowed -with reason. He acts a considerable part in the Shah-namah, as tutor -to Zál, the father of Rustam. In the Kahermán Námah, this bird in a -conversation with Kaherman, the hero, states that it has existed during -many revolutions of ages and beings prior to the creation of Adam. It -is called Si-murgh, as being equal in magnitude to thirty birds.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_291" id="footnote_291"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_291"><span class="muchsmaller">[291]</span></a> - Rustam appears to be a personification of the heroic times of the -Persians, the Medes and the Scythes. He was born under the reign of -Manucheher, after the year 1299 B. C., and died under that of Gústasp, -after the year 625 before our era; his existence comprises therefore 604 -years. He was the lord of Sejestan, and extended his domination over -Zabulistan and Kabul; but the circle of his actions comprehends a great -part of Asia between the Indus, the Indian and the Caspian seas.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_292" id="footnote_292"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_292"><span class="muchsmaller">[292]</span></a> - Khizar is confounded by many with the prophet Elias, who is supposed -to dwell in the Terrestrial Paradise, in the enjoyment of immortality. -According to Eastern traditions, Khizr was the companion, vizir -or general of the ancient monarch, named <span class="title">Zu-al-Kurnain</span>, or “the Two-horned;” -a title which was also assumed by Alexander the Great. According -to the Tárikh Muntakhab, this prophet was Abraham’s nephew, and -served as guide to Moses and the children of Israel, in their passage of the -Red sea and the desert. The same author tells us, that Khizr lived in -the time of Kai Kobad, at which time he discovered the fountain of life. -(Herbelot).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_293" id="footnote_293"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_293"><span class="muchsmaller">[293]</span></a> - Ferdusi in his Shah-namah narrates that: Secander was in search of -the water of life, accompanied by Khizr. The prophet attained his purpose, -but the king lost his way in the dark. The troops of the latter -followed a mare running after her foal, until they found themselves in a -place full of pebbles sounding beneath their feet, and heard a voice -from heaven, saying: “Take, or leave, the stones; sorrow of the heart -“awaits you in any case.” And so it happened. At day-break, the -stones picked up were found to be precious rubies; all were grieved: the -one for not having taken more, the others for not having taken any, of -them.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_294" id="footnote_294"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_294"><span class="muchsmaller">[294]</span></a> - Farvardin presides over the 19th day of the month, and over the first -month of the year (Zend-Avesta, by Anquetil du Perron, <abbr title="Two, pages">II, p.</abbr> 320-337). -Hyde (<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 239) says: the first month, March, in the Jeláli-year (or the new -Persian era of Jelaluddin) which first month was July in the old year, is -called <span class="title">Farvardin</span>, and he endeavours to derive this word from the modern -Persian. Anquetil du Perron (<abbr title="One, First">I, 1<sup>re</sup></abbr> -part. <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 493) rejects Hyde’s -etymology, and says that Farvardin signifies in Zend “the Fervers (the -souls) of the law.” Hyde himself seems to enter into this sense, in saying -(<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 240): <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“Iste Angelus -(Farvardin) creditur præesse Animabus quæ in -Paradiso”</span> (this angel is believed to preside over the souls who are in -Paradise).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_295" id="footnote_295"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_295"><span class="muchsmaller">[295]</span></a> - The Calcutta manuscript, translated by Gladwin, differs in this passage -from the printed copy of Calcutta, 1224 of the <span class="title">Hejirah</span>, A. D. 1809, -and also from two excellent manuscripts: the Calcutta copy has been -followed.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_296" id="footnote_296"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_296"><span class="muchsmaller">[296]</span></a> - The most ancient year of the Persians (Hyde, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 188, 189) appears to -have been vague or erratic, its commencement varying through all the -different seasons, or at least soon gave room to the vague Persian-Median -civil year, to which was joined afterwards the fixed ecclesiastic -year of Jemshed. Both these years lasted to the time of Yezdejerd, -who made some considerable changes in the Persian calendar. This -king being killed, after an interval of time, the fixed solar year, beginning -in the middle of “pisces,” was introduced into Persia. The names of -the ancient months and days appear to have come from the Medes, with -their denomination, to the Persians; and even those invented by Yezdejerd -were of Median origin. Here follows the order of months called <span class="time">Jelali</span> -(Hyde, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 180).</p> - -<table class="fn" summary=""> -<tr><td class="left"><abbr title="One">I.</abbr></td> - <td class="left">Farvardin</td> - <td class="left">March.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left"><abbr title="Two">II.</abbr></td> - <td class="left">Ardíbehist</td> - <td class="left">April.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left"><abbr title="Three">III.</abbr></td> - <td class="left">Khordád</td> - <td class="left">May.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left"><abbr title="Four">IV.</abbr></td> - <td class="left">Tir</td> - <td class="left">June.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left"><abbr title="Five">V.</abbr></td> - <td class="left">Mardád (<span class="title">Amardad.<br /> Anquetil du Perron</span>)</td> - <td class="left">July.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left"><abbr title="Six">VI.</abbr></td> - <td class="left">Shahrívar</td> - <td class="left">August.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left"><abbr title="Seven">VII.</abbr></td> - <td class="left">Miher</td> - <td class="left">September.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left"><abbr title="Eight">VIII.</abbr></td> - <td class="left">Abán</td> - <td class="left">October.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left"><abbr title="Nine">IX.</abbr></td> - <td class="left">Azar</td> - <td class="left">November.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left"><abbr title="Ten">X.</abbr></td> - <td class="left">Dái</td> - <td class="left">December.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left"><abbr title="Eleven">XI.</abbr></td> - <td class="left">Bahman</td> - <td class="left">January.</td></tr> -<tr><td class="left"><abbr title="Twelve">XII.</abbr></td> - <td class="left">Isfandármend</td> - <td class="left">February.</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="footnote">The old Persian month was not divided into weeks, but every day had -its particular name from the angel who presided over that day. Here -follows the order of their names, according to Olugh Beigh (Hyde, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 190):</p> - -<ul class="footnote"> -<li><abbr title="One">I.</abbr> Hormuzd.</li> -<li><abbr title="Two">II.</abbr> Bahman.</li> -<li><abbr title="Three">III.</abbr> Ardíbehist.</li> -<li><abbr title="Four">IV.</abbr> Shahrívar.</li> -<li><abbr title="Five">V.</abbr> Isfandármend.</li> -<li><abbr title="Six">VI.</abbr> Khurdád.</li> -<li><abbr title="Seven">VII.</abbr> Murdád.</li> -<li><abbr title="Eight">VIII.</abbr> Dáíbáder.</li> -<li><abbr title="Nine">IX.</abbr> Azur.</li> -<li><abbr title="Ten">X.</abbr> Abán.</li> -<li><abbr title="Eleven">XI.</abbr> Khur.</li> -<li><abbr title="Twelve">XII.</abbr> Máh.</li> -<li><abbr title="Thirteen">XIII.</abbr> Tír.</li> -<li><abbr title="Fourteen">XIV.</abbr> Júsh or Gúsh.</li> -<li><abbr title="Fifteen">XV.</abbr> Dáíbamiher.</li> -<li><abbr title="Sixteen">XVI.</abbr> Miher.</li> -<li><abbr title="Seventeen">XVII.</abbr> Surúsh.</li> -<li><abbr title="Eighteen">XVIII.</abbr> Resh.</li> -<li><abbr title="Nineteen">XIX.</abbr> Farvardin.</li> -<li><abbr title="Twenty">XX.</abbr> Bahrám.</li> -<li><abbr title="Twenty-One">XXI.</abbr> Rám.</li> -<li><abbr title="Twenty-Two">XXII.</abbr> Bád.</li> -<li><abbr title="Twenty-Three">XXIII.</abbr> Dáíbadín.</li> -<li><abbr title="Twenty-Four">XXIV.</abbr> Din.</li> -<li><abbr title="Twenty-Five">XXV.</abbr> Ird, or Ard.</li> -<li><abbr title="Twenty-Six">XXVI.</abbr> Ashtád.</li> -<li><abbr title="Twenty-Seven">XXVII.</abbr> Asamán.</li> -<li><abbr title="Twenty-Eight">XXVIII.</abbr> Zámíád.</li> -<li><abbr title="Twenty-Nine">XXIX.</abbr> Márásfand.</li> -<li><abbr title="Thirty">XXX.</abbr> Anírán.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="footnote">The names of the five additional days were as follows:</p> - -<ul class="footnote"> -<li><abbr title="One">I.</abbr> Ahnud-jah.</li> -<li><abbr title="Two">II.</abbr> Ashnud-jah.</li> -<li><abbr title="Three">III.</abbr> Isfandamaz-jah.</li> -<li><abbr title="Four">IV.</abbr> Akhshater-jah.</li> -<li><abbr title="Five">V.</abbr> Vahashtusht-jah.</li> -</ul> -<p class="footnote">Room is wanted for entering into further developments of this extensive -subject.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_297" id="footnote_297"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_297"><span class="muchsmaller">[297]</span></a> - The text of Gladwin has <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">نيديار</span> - which has the same meaning.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_298" id="footnote_298"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_298"><span class="muchsmaller">[298]</span></a> - The text of Gladwin has <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">اورام</span> <dfn>Orám</dfn>. - The name is properly Uráman, -a peculiar manner of chanting or reading Pahlavi poetry, which -derives its name from a village in the dependencies of Kushgun, where -its inventor lived.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_299" id="footnote_299"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_299"><span class="muchsmaller">[299]</span></a> - Gladwin and Shea read Wasatir, but I cannot forbear from thinking, -the right reading is dasátir; the <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">و</span> and the <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">د</span> -being easily confounded with -each other. The simile above quoted is not to be found in the Bombay edition -of the Desátír, although the same precepts are stated therein (<abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 12, -13, 14). Here follows the passage (English <abbr title="translation Commentary">transl. -Comment.</abbr> <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 45) about -the Desátír itself: “There are two books of Yezdán. The name of the -first is <dfn>Dógítí</dfn>, ‘two worlds,’ and this they call the ‘Great Book,’ -or in the language of Heaven <dfn>Ferz-Desatir</dfn>, or the ‘Great Desátir,’ -which is the great volume of Yezdán. And the other book is called -Desátir, the doctrines of which Máhábád, and the other prophets from -Màhábád down to me, have revealed. * * * * And in the heavenly -tongue this is called <dfn>Derick Desatir</dfn>, ‘the Little Desátir,’ as being the -Little Book of God.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_300" id="footnote_300"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_300"><span class="muchsmaller">[300]</span></a> - Zanar is called in India the brahminical, or in general, a religious -thread; here is meant the mark of any unbeliever.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_301" id="footnote_301"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_301"><span class="muchsmaller">[301]</span></a> - Zohak.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_302" id="footnote_302"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_302"><span class="muchsmaller">[302]</span></a> - <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">पद्मासन</span></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_303" id="footnote_303"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_303"><span class="muchsmaller">[303]</span></a> - These practices are evidently the same as those used among the Hindu -devotees. The chapter upon the Hindus, which follows, will set forth the -great conformity, nay, identity of Indian religions with the tenets and -customs here ascribed to Persian sects. In the Desátir (English <abbr title="translation Commentary">transl. -Comment.</abbr> <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 66, 67) is a curious account of the postures to be taken -standing, or lying, or sitting, on the ground before any thing that burns, -and reciting the <dfn>Ferz-zemiar</dfn>, “great prayer,” to Yezdán, or another to -<dfn>Shesh-kákh</dfn>, that is to say, to the stars and to the fire which yield light.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_304" id="footnote_304"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_304"><span class="muchsmaller">[304]</span></a> - <span lang="ar" xml:lang="ar">عزيزی</span> Azizi is supposed, by Mr. Tholuck (<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Sufismus, sive Theosophia -Persarum Pantheistica</span>) to be the name of the so long unknown -author of Gulshen-raz, “the rose-bower of mystery.” Silvestre de Sacy -(see <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Journal des Savants, décembre</span> 1821, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 719, 720), without absolutely -rejecting this supposition, explains the word Azizi by <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“homme -vertueux”</span> in the verse upon which Mr. Tholuck founded his opinion. -The true author of Gulshen-raz is now known to be Mahmud Shabisterí. -See the Persian text with a German metrical translation of this poem, -published in 1838 by the baron Hammer-Purgstall.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_305" id="footnote_305"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_305"><span class="muchsmaller">[305]</span></a> - <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">पर ब्रह्म नारायणः</span></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_306" id="footnote_306"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_306"><span class="muchsmaller">[306]</span></a> - For Ishrakian, see pages 31 and 86 <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">ad refutationem Alcorani</span>.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_307" id="footnote_307"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_307"><span class="muchsmaller">[307]</span></a> - In Gladwin’s Persian text, it is <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">توتيار</span> <dfn>Tutiar</dfn>; in the manuscripts -consulted by Shea, in the edition of Calcutta, and in the manuscript of -Oude <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">نونيار</span> <dfn>nuniar</dfn>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_308" id="footnote_308"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_308"><span class="muchsmaller">[308]</span></a> - <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">स्वप्न</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_309" id="footnote_309"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_309"><span class="muchsmaller">[309]</span></a> - <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">सुस्वप्न</span>, “good sleep.”</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_310" id="footnote_310"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_310"><span class="muchsmaller">[310]</span></a> - <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">सुखास्वाद</span>, <dfn>sukhásváda</dfn>, “enjoyment.”</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_311" id="footnote_311"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_311"><span class="muchsmaller">[311]</span></a> - <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">समाधि</span>, <dfn>samádhi</dfn>, “deep and devout meditation.”</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_312" id="footnote_312"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_312"><span class="muchsmaller">[312]</span></a> - <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">जाग्रत्</span>, <dfn>jagrat</dfn>, “watching, being awake.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_313" id="footnote_313"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_313"><span class="muchsmaller">[313]</span></a> - <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">प्रत्यय</span>, <dfn>pratyaya</dfn>, “certainty.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_314" id="footnote_314"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_314"><span class="muchsmaller">[314]</span></a> - <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">प्रपुरपरोक्ष</span>, <dfn>prapura-paròksha</dfn>, “absent from the former body.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_315" id="footnote_315"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_315"><span class="muchsmaller">[315]</span></a> - The text of Gladwin has <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">زارک</span> “<dfn>záreng</dfn>;” the edition of Calcutta -and the manuscript of Oude <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">ارنک</span> <dfn>Arang</dfn>; in the Desatir we find -<dfn>Lareng</dfn> for the name of a divinity.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<hr class="short" /> - -<h3 class="p4 h3head">SECTION <abbr title="Two">II.</abbr></h3> - -<p class="center">DESCRIPTION OF THE SÍPÁSIÁN SECT.</p> - -<p class="p2">Among the moderns, the chief of the Abadian and -<span class="title">Azúrhúshangíán</span> sects was <span class="person">Azar Kaiván</span>, whose -lineage is as follows: <span class="person">Azar Kaívan</span>, the son of <span class="person">Azar -Zerdusht</span>, the son of <span class="person">Azar Barzín</span>, the son of <span class="person">Azar -Khurín</span>, the son of <span class="person">Azar Ayin</span>, the son of <span class="person">Azar Bahram</span>, -the son of <span class="person">Azar Nosh</span>, the son of <span class="person">Azar Mihtar</span>, -the younger son of <span class="person">Azar Sásán</span>, styled the fifth <span class="person">Sásán</span>, -the elder son of <span class="person">Azar Sásán</span>, the fourth of that -name, the younger son of <span class="person">Azar Sásán</span>, the third of -that name, the eldest son of <span class="person">Azar Sásán</span>, or the -second <span class="person">Sásán</span>, the mighty son of <span class="person">Azar Sásán</span>, or the -first <span class="person">Sásán</span>, the son of <span class="person">Darab</span> the less, the son of -<span class="person">Darab</span> the great, the son of <span class="person">Bahmán</span>, the son of -<a name="Page_88" id="Page_88"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 88</span> -<span class="person">Isfendiar</span>, the son of <span class="person">Gushtasp</span>, the son of <span class="person">Lohrasp</span>, -the son of <span class="person">Arvand</span>, the son of <span class="person">Kai Nishin</span>, the son -of <span class="person">Kai Kobad</span>, the son of <span class="person">Zab</span>, the son of <span class="person">Nauder</span>, -the son of <span class="person">Minuchehr</span>, the son of <span class="person">Iraj</span>, who was of the -lineage of Feridun, the son of <span class="person">Abtin</span>, who was of -the lineage of <span class="person">Jamshid</span>, the son of <span class="person">Tahmúras</span>, the son -of <span class="person">Húsheng</span>, the son of <span class="person">Siamak</span>, the son of <span class="person">Kaiomors</span>, -the son of <span class="person">Yásán Ajam</span>, of the lineage of <span class="person">Yásán</span>, the -son of <span class="person">Shai Mohbul</span>, of the lineage <span class="person">Shai Giliv</span>, the -son of <span class="person">Jaí Alad</span>, of the lineage of <span class="person">Jai Afram</span>, the son -of <span class="person">Abád Azád</span>, of the lineage of <span class="person">Mah Abád</span>, who -appeared with splendor in the beginning of the -great cycle. The mother of <span class="person">Kaiván</span> was named -<span class="title">Shirín</span>, a fortunate and illustrious dame descended -from the lineage of the just monarch Nushirvan. -Through eternal aid and almighty grace <span class="person">Azar Kaiván</span>, -from his fifth year, devoted himself to great -abstinence in food, and watching by night. <span class="person">Salím</span> -thus expresses himself:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Innate essence has no need of instruction;</div> - <div class="i0">How could an artist produce the image in the mirror?”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>In the progress of his admirable voluntary mortification, -the quantity of his daily food was reduced -to one direm weight. On this point, the divine sage -Sunái observes:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“If thou eat to excess, thou becomest an unwieldy elephant;</div> - <div class="i0">But if with moderation, thou becomest another Gabriel;</div> - <div class="i0">If any person should give way to excess in eating,</div> - <div class="i0">Rest assured that he is also vile to excess.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 89</span> -He abode in Khum during twenty-eight years, -but removed in his latter days from the land of Iran -into India: he remained some time in Patna, where, -in the year of the Hegira 1027 (A. D. 1673), he -took his flight from this lower elementary abode to -the sphere of the mansions on high. Azízí observes:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Whoever is wise, esteems this mortal coil the obstacle to union with God:</div> - <div class="i0">This life is the death of Durvishes: look on (the world of) reality as a friend.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>He continued eighty-five years united to the elements -of body, during which time he never desisted -from the practice of austerities. On this subject -Hafiz of Shiraz observes:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“O! my heart, if thou once become acquainted with the lustre of austerity,</div> - <div class="i0">Like those who strike the smiling taper, thou canst give up thy head—</div> - <div class="i0">But thou longest after thy beloved and sparkling wine-bowl:</div> - <div class="i0">Abstain from such desire, for thou canst accomplish better things.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p><span class="person">Farzánah Bahrám</span> relates in the <span class="title">Sharistan</span>, that -from the very commencement of his religious career, -Azar Kaiván, having resolved on learning thoroughly -the science and systems of the eminent sages of antiquity, -on this, the distinguished philosophers of -Hindustan, Greece, and Persia, having appeared to -him in a vision, communicated all kinds of knowledge. -He went one day to a college, where he -answered every question that was proposed, and -<a name="Page_90" id="Page_90"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 90</span> -gave the solution of every difficulty: he was therefore -entitled <span class="title">Zu-l-ulum</span>, or “the Master of Sciences.” -Ali Sani Amir Saiyid Ali of Hamadan observes:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“If thou advance even one step from this abode of vain desire,</div> - <div class="i0">Thou mayest repose in the sanctuary of omnipotence;</div> - <div class="i0">And if thou perform ablution with the water of religious austerity,</div> - <div class="i0">Thou canst convert all the uncleanness of thy heart into purity;</div> - <div class="i0">This path however is only traversed by the active pilgrim,</div> - <div class="i0">How canst thou, the world’s idol, perform such a task?”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>It is reported that Saiyid Hasan of Shiraz, who -was styled “the sage, the embellishment of pure -faith and works,” one day said thus: “On a certain day, -two followers of the Sufís came into -the presence of Azar Kaiván, and pursuing the -path of opposition to the Master of Sciences, -treated him not as one possessed of perfection. -Their teacher, a man equally eminent in theoretical -and practical science, who by dominion over -the external world had established the relation -of spiritual intercourse with the holy prophet, fell -one night into a state of ecstasy, and beheld in his -trance the effulgent perfection of the prophet, -who said to him: ‘My son! tell thy disciples -that through the assistance of the Only Wise -and the Omnipotent, who is independent of all, -Ali Kaiván is a completely perfect man, who has -attained to the different degrees of spiritual dominion, -by the practice of the seven cordial -ejaculations, and varied mysterious illuminations, -<a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 91</span> -visions, revelations, spiritual realities in his -acts and attributes: moreover his evanescent -existence, through grace predestined from eternity, -has received the boon of divine nature; -equally versed in special and general providence; -unique in the true knowledge of things from -inspection, not contented with the illumination -of tradition; the most perfect master of the -seekers after truth in matters of worship, seclusion, -social intercourse, and whatever is meet -and suitable to their state in all kinds of institutes -and religious austerities. He is the true -philosopher; the physician of the human race; -the discipline of religion; the institute of the -devout; the interpreter of events; the instructor -of worship; the director of those who seek God, -labouring diligently in the purification of souls; -co-operating in the cleansing of hearts; the spiritual -champion of the law; fighting the good -fight of faith; the principle of truth; confirmed -in the knowledge, source, and evidence of certainty; -supported by divine aid in the fundamental -points and collateral inductions. Let -not thy disciples calumniate him, but esteem -him a holy personage, and regard attendance on -him as pregnant with happiness: do thou also -approach his presence, and use every effort to -conciliate his affection.’ The teacher having -<a name="Page_92" id="Page_92"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 92</span> -during his ecstacy repeated this panegyric several -times, I committed the words to writing, and -on the holy man’s arising from his ecstatic trance, -he summoned me and said: ‘Who in this city -is Azar Kaiván? The prophet hath praised him -exceedingly, and ordered me to go into his presence.’ -I answered: ‘He has lately come hither -from the direction of Istakhar:’ on which -he replied: ‘Conduct me near him.’ I therefore -accompanied him, but was ignorant of Kaiván’s -residence. When we had proceeded some time, -one of Kaiván’s disciples, by name Farhad, came -near him and said: ‘The master (that is Kaiván) -invites you, and has sent me to be your guide.’ -When we came into his presence, my teacher had -determined in his mind to salute him first, but -was unable to obtain the priority, as Azar Kaiván -had much sooner anticipated him in salutations -in the Persian language, and afterwards addressed -him in Arabic. We were struck with astonishment. -My teacher then repeated what he had -communicated to me concerning the vision, on -which Kaiván commanded him ‘not to remove -the veil of this mystery.’” The teacher, on his -return, having called before him his two misguided -disciples, recounted the perfections of Kaiván, and -enjoined them to abstain from censuring the holy -man. For as Sadi says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 93</span> -<div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Respecting the thicket, imagine it not unoccupied,</div> - <div class="i0">A tiger may probably be couched there.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>Azar Kaiván mixed little with the people of the -world; he shunned with horror all public admirers; -and seldom gave audience to any but his disciples -and the searchers after truth; never exposing himself -to the public gaze. According to Shaikh Baha -Uddin Muhammad of Amil,</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“If thou have not guards in front and rear to keep off the crowd,</div> - <div class="i0">Aversion to mixing with crowds will be a sufficient safeguard to thee.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">Farzanah Bahrám relates in the <cite>Sharistan</cite>, that Kaiván -expressed himself after this manner: “The connexion -of my spirit with this body, formed of the -elements, resembles the relation of the body to a -loose robe; whenever I wish I can separate myself -from it, and resume it at my desire.” The -same author also thus relates of him, in the text of -the <span class="title">Jam-i-Kai Khusró</span>, wherein are recounted some -of his revelations and spiritual communications:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i2b">“When I passed in rapid flight from material bodies,</div> - <div class="i2">I drew near a pure and happy spirit;</div> - <div class="i2">With the eye of spirit I beheld spirits:</div> - <div class="i2">My spirit was moving amidst kindred spirits:</div> - <div class="i2">In every sphere and star I beheld a spirit;</div> - <div class="i2">Each sphere and star possessed its peculiar spirit;</div> - <div class="i2">Thus in the three kingdoms of nature I beheld a common spirit,</div> - <div class="i2">As their spirit was mutually communicated to each other.</div> - <div class="i2">I attained the knowledge of all existences.</div> - <div class="i2">And was associated with the great Serósh Ramah.</div> - <div class="i2"><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_316" id="fnanchor_316"></a><a href="#footnote_316" class="fnanchor">[316]</a></span>But - when I reached a great elevation,</div> -<a name="Page_94" id="Page_94"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 94</span> - <div class="i2">Splendor from the Almighty gave me light;</div> - <div class="i2">As the radiance increased this individuality departed;</div> - <div class="i2"><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_317" id="fnanchor_317"></a><a href="#footnote_317" class="fnanchor">[317]</a></span>Even - the angelic nature and the principle of evil disappeared:</div> - <div class="i2">God only existed, there was no sign of me</div> - <div class="i6">(or of my individual existence):</div> - <div class="i2"><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_318" id="fnanchor_318"></a><a href="#footnote_318" class="fnanchor">[318]</a></span>I - no longer retained intellect or recollection of spirit:</div> - <div class="i2"><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_319" id="fnanchor_319"></a><a href="#footnote_319" class="fnanchor">[319]</a></span>I - discovered all my secrets to be but shadows;</div> - <div class="i2">I then returned to the angelic intelligences,</div> - <div class="i2">And from these intelligences I came back to the spirit;</div> - <div class="i2">And thus at last to bodies also summoning me.</div> - <div class="i2">In this manner I became powerful, wise, and sublime,</div> - <div class="i2">Until I descended from that high degree—</div> - <div class="i2">Upon the road by which I had gone up, I returned to my body</div> - <div class="i0">With a hundred divine favours<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_320" id="fnanchor_320"></a><a href="#footnote_320" class="fnanchor">[320]</a></span> - deriving splendor from that assemblage;</div> - <div class="i2">The dignity of the Supreme Lord is too exalted</div> - <div class="i2">For intercourse with his servants to be worthy of him.</div> - <div class="i0">By his effulgence intellect becomes (illumined) like the earth or sun;</div> - <div class="i0">He is elevated too high for his servants to hold intercourse with him:</div> - <div class="i2">If the spirit receives illumination from him,</div> - <div class="i0">It becomes beside itself, and its speech is ‘I am without intellect’—</div> -<a name="Page_95" id="Page_95"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 95</span> - <div class="i0">The world is a drop which proceeds from the ocean of his - existence;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_321" id="fnanchor_321"></a><a href="#footnote_321" class="fnanchor">[321]</a></span></div> - <div class="i2">What is the dropping dew? it is Himself (God);</div> - <div class="i0">Thou art not the dropping dew, but only a drop among the drops of it.</div> - <div class="i2">I know not what to say, as the result of all is deficiency:</div> - <div class="i2">Through love he confers bounties on his servants;</div> - <div class="i2">As it is proper to raise up the down-fallen</div> - <div class="i2">His love renders the mendicant a man of power.</div> - <div class="i2">The world is but a ray emanating from the sun of his face:</div> - <div class="i2">The just Creator addressed me in kind words,</div> - <div class="i2">And conferred on me the splendor of an Ized;</div> - <div class="i2">None but He can duly praise Himself,</div> - <div class="i2">As He cannot become the object of speech or hearing.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>Kaivan was master of noble demonstrations and -subtile distinctions: one of the Moslem lawyers having -asked him: “Why dost thou forbid thy followers -from eating flesh, slaying animals, and injuring -living creatures?” He thus replied: “The seekers -of God are named the peculiar people of the -<a name="Page_96" id="Page_96"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 96</span> -heart; and the heart itself, the true Kâabah: -therefore, what is an abomination in the sanctuary -formed of water and clay cannot a fortiori be suitable -to the true Kâabah: that is, the eating of -animals and the slaughter of living creatures. A -great man says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“I have heard that a sheep once thus addressed the butcher,</div> - <div class="i0">At the moment he prepared to cut off her head with his sword:</div> - <div class="i0">‘I now behold the retribution of every bush and bramble of which I tasted;</div> - <div class="i0">What then shall that person not experience who eats my fatted loin?’”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>Kaivan also said: “If you think proper, keep your -tenets secret wherever you happen to be, concealing -them even from your brethren in the faith; -as they, for the confirmation of their system, will -make you publicly known.” Azizi also says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“As long as thou canst, communicate not thy secret to thy friend;</div> - <div class="i0">For that friend has another; beware therefore of thy friend’s friend?”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>Some one asked him: “In the schism of Abad -Ansari, which faith shall I adopt, and whose -arguments must I regard as true?” Azar Kaiván -replied: “Remain in the same faith that, until the -present time, God doeth as seemeth good to him; -and for the time to come he will do whatever he -thinks proper.” Urfi of Shiraz -says,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_322" id="fnanchor_322"></a><a href="#footnote_322" class="fnanchor">[322]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Thy essence is able to call into being all that is impossible,</div> - <div class="i2">Except to create one like thyself!”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 97</span> -He once said to a holy man: “The knowledge of -evanescent objects is not properly knowledge, but -bears the same relation to reality as the mirage -of the desert to water: the searcher after which -obtains nothing but an increase of thirst.” Shah -Subhan says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Men favoured by fortune drink the wine of true knowledge;</div> - <div class="i0">They do not, like fools, quaff the dregs of infidelity;</div> - <div class="i0">The science acquired in colleges and by human capacity</div> - <div class="i0">Is like water drawn out of the well by a sieve.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>They once observed to Kaivan: “Notwithstanding -the great exertions made by his highness the sincere -and faithful Akbar, and the grand justiciary, -the caliph Omar, and the possessor of the two -lights, Osman, in the way of the faith proved by -miracles, and their mighty labors in diffusing its -institutes, the Shee-ites are opposed to these -great personages?” He replied: “The mass of -mankind are acted upon by time and place, in -opposition to the seekers after truth. It is also -to be observed that the people of Iran have adopted -the Shee-ite faith; and as the above-mentioned -great personages destroyed the fire-temples of -that nation, and overturned their ancient religion, -therefore rebellion and envy have remained in -their hearts.”</p> - -<p>Two learned men having a dispute concerning the -superiority of the chosen Alí, “the Elect” (whose -<a name="Page_98" id="Page_98"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 98</span> -face may God honor), over the two Shaikhs and the -<span class="title">Lord of the two lights</span> (Osmar), (upon all of whom -be the mercy of the Almighty) having referred the -dispute to Kaivan, he observed:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“All four are the four perfections of the prophetic edifice;</div> - <div class="i0">All four are the four elements of the prophets’ souls.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>“The distinction between the two exalted parties -is difficult, as two of them claim supremacy on the -celebrity (drum) of being fathers-in-law to the -Arab founder of religion; and the other two are -fitted for dignity, by being sons-in-law to the -apostle of the Arabs. But whereas all things are -objects of the Almighty’s regard, the excellent -Alí, ‘the Lion of God,’ was esteemed so pre-eminent -an object of divine favor among the Moslems, -that want of faith and ignorance induced many -to worship him as the true God, until this great -personage openly disclaimed such a pretension. -Also during the pontificate and caliphat of <span class="person">Sadik</span>, -‘the faithful witness,’ the powerful <span class="person">Abubeker</span>, -‘the separator,’ the grand <span class="person">Omar</span>, and that of <span class="person">Zu-l-Narain</span>, -‘the Lord of the two Lights,’ error -misled many to such a degree, that they denied -their authority, until these legitimate directors -asserted their claims to that -dignity.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_323" id="fnanchor_323"></a><a href="#footnote_323" class="fnanchor">[323]</a></span></p> - -<p><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 99</span> -He returned an answer of a similar description in -a dispute between a Jew, a Christian, and a Muselman, -who were arguing about the superiority of their -<a name="Page_100" id="Page_100"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 100</span> -respective prophets; some acknowledging Jesus as -God, the others as the Son of God. One day as a -Christian and Muselman were disputing with each -<a name="Page_101" id="Page_101"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 101</span> -other, the former allowing the death of Jesus, and -the latter believing him to be alive, Azar Kaivan -said: “If a person who knew not the direction of -a road which formed his destination, should in -the course of his journey come to a dead body -lying down, and a living person seated, from -which of the two ought he to inquire his way?” -As the disputants both replied, “from the living -person;” he then said to the Muselman: “Adopt -thou the faith of Jesus, as according to thy belief -he is living.” He then added: “By life is meant -the life of the rational soul: in this Mohammed -and Jesus are on an equality; call your prophets -the ‘eternal living:’ for life means not the perpetuity -of this body fashioned out of the elements, -which cannot accompany us beyond a hundred -or a hundred and twenty natural stages (years).” -Azizi says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“If the domestic fowl should fly along with the fowls of the air,</div> - <div class="i0">It could not proceed in flight beyond the summit of the wall.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>A hermit once came into -<span class="person">Zu-l-Ulum</span>’s<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_324" id="fnanchor_324"></a><a href="#footnote_324" class="fnanchor">[324]</a></span> presence; -<a name="Page_102" id="Page_102"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 102</span> -he pronounced a panegyric on the opposition to -sensual passions exhibited by pious Moslem believers: -and then added: “There is no limit to the opposition -to these passions: even the unbeliever through -the practice of austerities finally becomes a Moslem.” -He also added: “An exemplary unbeliever -had become able to work miracles: a Shaikh -went to him one day and asked: ‘By what route -hast thou attained to this dignity?’ He replied, -‘By opposing the suggestions of the passions.’ -On which the Shaikh answered: ‘Now turn to -Islamism, as thy soul has admitted infidelity.’ -On hearing which the unbeliever became a follower -of Islamism.” Kaivan observed: “The -Shaikh must have been an infidel, as his soul was -still seeking after Islamism, or the true religion.” -Urfi says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Lay aside the recollection of (these words) belief and unbelief, as they excite great disputes;</div> - <div class="i0">For according to our (supposed) bad doctrines, all persons think aright.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>A person once came to Zu-l-Ulum, and said: “I -propose embracing the profession of a durvesh, -and breaking asunder the chains which bind me -to the world.” Kaivan replied, “It is well.” -Some days after, he returned to Kaivan, and said: -“I am at present engaged in procuring the patched -tunic, cap, wallet, and other things necessary for -<a name="Page_103" id="Page_103"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 103</span> -my profession.” Zu-l-Ulum observed: “The -profession of a durvesh consists in resigning every -thing and abandoning all manner of preparations, -and not in accumulation of any kind.”</p> - -<p>A merchant through penury having assumed the -dress of hypocrisy, appeared in a Shaikh’s garb, -and many persons devoutly regarded him as a holy -man. He one day came before Kaivan and said: -“Often have wretches plundered me on the road: -it was however for a good purpose, in order that -by embracing the life of a durvesh I might attain -the great object of salvation.” Azar Kaivan replied: -“Be not grieved, as thou art now plundering -mankind by way of retaliation.”</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“The society of Urfi pleases not the superior of our monastery;</div> - <div class="i0">Because the superior is a foe to the intelligent and Urfi to the stupid.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>At present some of Kaivan’s disciples, as far as -the author’s acquaintance extends, are about to be -enumerated.</p> - -<p><span class="person">Farzanah Kharrád</span>, of the family of Mahbud, who -had been the <span class="title">khan salar</span> (royal table-decker or taster) -to the equitable monarch -<span class="person">Nushirvan</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_325" id="fnanchor_325"></a><a href="#footnote_325" class="fnanchor">[325]</a></span> -and put to -<a name="Page_104" id="Page_104"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 104</span> -death through the sorcery of a Jew and the calumnies -of a chamberlain, as recorded in the Shah -Namah of the king of poets, Ferdúsi, and in other -histories: Kharrad joined himself to Kaivan in the -bazar of Shiraz, and practised religious austerities -for many years. Farzanah Khushi has often mentioned -in conversation, and has also frequently -repeated in the <span class="title">Bazm-gah-i-Durvéshán</span>, “the Durvesh’s -banquetting-room,” the following circumstance: -“I one day beheld <span class="person">Kharrad</span> and <span class="person">Ardeshir</span> -(a descendant of <span class="person">Ardeshir -Babegan</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_326" id="fnanchor_326"></a><a href="#footnote_326" class="fnanchor">[326]</a></span> -and one of -Kaivan’s disciples), standing face to face and mutually -opposing each other: whenever Ardeshir -<a name="Page_105" id="Page_105"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 105</span> -wished to smite Kharrád with a sword, he appeared -like a stone, so that when the sword came -into contact with his body, it was instantly broken -to pieces.”—In the year 1029 of the Hejirah -(1620 A. D.) he became reunited to the pure uncompounded -spirit. <span class="person">Buzurgi</span> says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“What is the soul? the seminal principle from the loins of destiny:</div> - <div class="i0">This world is the womb: the body its enveloping membrane:</div> - <div class="i0">The bitterness of dissolution, dame Fortune’s pangs of childbirth.</div> - <div class="i0">What is death? to be born again an angel of eternity.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p><span class="person">Farzanah Farshid wird</span> was one of the Parsi village -chieftains: his pedigree ascended to <span class="person">Farzanah -Shedosh</span>, who was one of the fifth <span class="person">Sassan</span>’s<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_327" id="fnanchor_327"></a><a href="#footnote_327" class="fnanchor">[327]</a></span> disciples. -He also became attached to Azar Kaivan in the same -place as Kharrad, and devoted himself to the service -of the Almighty. Khushi relates as follows: “Farshid -wird and Bahman used to stand facing each -<a name="Page_106" id="Page_106"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 106</span> -other; every arrow which Bahman discharged -against Farshid wird, he used to cut in two with -his sword: and whenever the latter let fly an -arrow, Bahman with activity and address threw -himself to one side and avoided it. But this is -still more wonderful: whenever Bahman shot off -a musket, Farshid let fly one at the same instant, -and ball met ball, so that they both remained -unhurt: sometimes also when Farshid Wird shot -off his musket, Bahman used to move rapidly on -one side.” In the year 1029 of the Hejirah -(A. D. 1619) he hurried away from this abode of -the elements to the skies. The Khajah Hafiz speaking -on this subject, says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“He never dies whose heart is quickened with love divine;</div> - <div class="i0">But remains for ever stamped on the records of our eternal world.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p><span class="person">Farzanah Khíradmand</span> was descended from Sám, -the son of Narimán: he joined <span class="person">Zu-l-Ulum</span> and gave -himself up to religious austerities. Khushi thus -relates: “I once beheld Khiradmand while standing -face to face to <span class="person">Rustam</span> (who was descended from -<span class="person">Bahram Gur</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_328" id="fnanchor_328"></a><a href="#footnote_328" class="fnanchor">[328]</a></span> -and was one of Kaivan’s distinguished -<a name="Page_107" id="Page_107"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 107</span> -disciples), assume the form of a dragon, -and shower out fire from his mouth, to such a -degree that a strong palm was consumed by its -violence.”</p> - -<p>In three months after Bahman’s death, Khiradmand -was restored to his original place. <span class="person">Buzurgi</span> -says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0">The skilful and intelligent artist</div> - <div class="i0">Should have in this world two successive lives:</div> - <div class="i0">So that in one he might acquire experience,</div> - <div class="i0">Which he could carry into effect by another experiment.</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>Of these illustrious personages they have recorded -many miraculous and mysterious deeds; such as, -in the upper world, hiding the sun’s disk; causing -him to appear at night; making the stars visible in -the day-time: and in this lower world, walking on -the surface of water; making trees productive out -of season; restoring verdure to dried-up wood; -causing trees to bow down their heads; also showing -themselves between heaven and earth in the form of -lightning; and such like: and, in the animated -world, metamorphosing animals; rendering themselves -<a name="Page_108" id="Page_108"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 108</span> -invisible to men; appearing under various -shapes and forms: some of which wonders have been -recorded in the <span class="title">Bazmgah-i-Durveshi Khushí</span>. They -relate that these great personages were to such a -degree enabled to divest themselves of corporeal -elements, that they quitted the body at pleasure: -also that they had acquired from the court of Heaven -the knowledge of all sciences whether known or -occult, and <em>consequently</em> had the power of exhibiting -such wonderful works; having rendered, by the -efficacy of their austerities, elementary matter subject -to themselves. The author of these pages -beheld these four holy personages, Kharrad, Farshid -wird, Bahman, and Khiradmand, in Patna, on -which occasion they bestowed their benedictions, -and imparted to him the glad tidings of the means -of obtaining the great object, or final salvation. -Shaikh Saadi says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“It becomes the truly wise to pass every day in the exercise of holy zeal,</div> - <div class="i0">And to offer up prayers for the prosperity of durveshes.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p><span class="person">Farzanah Bahram</span>, the son of Farhad, was descended -from <span class="person">Gudarz</span>, the son of Hashwád. When -Azar Kaivan had proceeded to Patna, in this sage’s -latter days, Farzanah Bahram came from Shiraz -and devoted himself to the practice of religious austerities. -He was a man who had attained the highest -degree of knowledge in logic, natural philosophy, -the abstract sciences, and theology, which he had -<a name="Page_109" id="Page_109"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 109</span> -most attentively studied as far as set forth and expounded -by sound reasoning in the Parsi, Pehlevi, -and Arabic: in practical and theoretical science he -was unequalled; being profoundly skilled and a -perfect philosopher in all the objects of science and -morality: among the Moslem doctors, he had established -the relations of external tuition with <span class="person">Khajah -Jumál-Uddin Mahmúd</span>, one of the disciples of the -<span class="person">Mulla Jalál Dawani</span>. Farzánah Bahrám is the polished -author and compiler of the book entitled -<cite>Sharístán-í-Dánish, wa Gulístán-í-Binish</cite>, “the -pavilion of knowledge and the rose-garden of -vision.” In the <span class="title">Sharistan</span>, he thus tells us: -“Through the aid of Azar Kaivan, I reached the -invisible, the angelic, the empyrean worlds, -and the seat of the Divinity, and attained to -union with him through revelations of the fourfold -kind—<dfn>impressive</dfn>, <dfn>operative</dfn>, <dfn>attributive</dfn>, and -<dfn>essential</dfn>.” The Mobed <span class="person">Hoshyar</span> relates: “I -have heard Farzánah Bahrám relate as follows: -I was one day standing in the presence of Azar -Kaivan, and conceived in my heart the wish -that he should tell me what occupied my secret -thoughts. The venerable personage unfolded the -secret thoughts of my heart, and afterwards said: -‘O, Farzanah! it is an easy matter for me to -know the secrets of the soul; but then what -purpose does thy tongue answer? in order -<a name="Page_110" id="Page_110"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 110</span> -that thy tongue may not be useless, I shall for -the future suffer thee to speak.’” He assumed -the dress of a merchant, but people imagined it -was for the purpose of concealment, and that he -gave himself up to alchymy. In the year of the -Hejirah 1034 (A. D. 1624), he ascended from this -lower abode of darkness to the pavilions of light. -The sage Sunái says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Wherever intellect and divine knowledge are found,</div> - <div class="i0">The death of body is the birth of soul.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>The Mobed Hoshyar is the author of the <span class="title">Sarúd-i-Mastán</span>, -“the songs of the intoxicated.” He was -born at the port of Surat; he traced his pedigree to -the invincible champion Rustam, the son of Zál, -and was a man of exceeding bravery, heroism, and -experience; perfect in generosity, sagacity, the -termination of disputes, right reason, and sound -experience. If his history were detailed at full -length, it would become necessary to write another -Shah Namah concerning his victory at Girdun, his -defeat of Alí Yakah, and such like.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_329" id="fnanchor_329"></a><a href="#footnote_329" class="fnanchor">[329]</a></span></p> - -<p>In short he entered the service of the great philosopher -Azar Kaivan and his eminent disciples, being -associated with them in the doctrine of self-knowledge; -from the commencement of night to the rise -of the world-illuminating sun, he slept in the attitude -<a name="Page_111" id="Page_111"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 111</span> -of <dfn>Murdah Khasp</dfn>. Now the terms <dfn>Muráah -Khab</dfn>, <dfn>Murdap Khasp</dfn>, and <dfn>Sáónós</dfn>, are terms applied -by the Sipásían to the following mode of sleeping: -the devotee rests (having thrown his legs beneath -him) on his knees, pressing to the ground both -heels as far as the great toe: and applying the extremities -of the knees to the earth, he keeps his seat -on the same; he is then to lie on his back, keeping -the points of his fingers on his head; after this, he is -to look intently between the eye-brows, and carry -into practice the <dfn>Habs-i-dam</dfn>, or imprisonment of -the breath. The Durvesh Subahani, one of the great -Sufees, used to say: “Such was the sleep of the -prophets.” They also say: “The prophets of old -used to sleep on their backs, with their faces directed -towards the Heavens:” which is the same -as the position before described. Hoshyar had attained -to the power of suppressing the breath for -one watch (three hours). Shaikh Saadi says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“They who restrain the soul from sensual pleasures</div> - <div class="i0">Surpass in heroism both Rustam and Zál.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>Hoshyar was not scrupulous about what he ate; -never turning away his face from whatever was set -before him: he however most diligently shunned -the practice of cruelty to living creatures, and avoided -superfluities and excess of every description. Hafiz -of Shiraz on this head says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 112</span> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Addict not thyself to cruel pursuits, and do whatever else thou pleasest;</div> - <div class="i0">As in our law there is no sin except that of cruelty.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>In the year of the Hejirah 1050 (A. D. 1640) he -was delivered from the bondage of body in the capital -named <span class="place">Akbar Abad</span>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_330" id="fnanchor_330"></a><a href="#footnote_330" class="fnanchor">[330]</a></span> -The Mobed says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Truly the body is a narrow sepulchre which entombs every spirit,</div> - <div class="i0">When that tomb is entombed, thou beholdest a wall, that <em>really</em> is no wall;</div> - <div class="i0">When the tomb is entombed, the living spirit is freed from its prison.</div> - <div class="i0">Alas! O Mobed, the sovereign of the body knows of no restriction.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>The Mobed Hoshyar, who was conversant with -the visible and invisible worlds, master of the esoteric -and exoteric doctrines, was the interpreter of -the <span class="title">Jashn-i-Sadah</span> (the festival of -Sadah),<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_331" id="fnanchor_331"></a><a href="#footnote_331" class="fnanchor">[331]</a></span> from -which work his superior talents are evident: he -derived his descent from the sage -<span class="person">Jamasp</span>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_332" id="fnanchor_332"></a><a href="#footnote_332" class="fnanchor">[332]</a></span> In the -<a name="Page_113" id="Page_113"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 113</span> -year of the Hejirah 1036 (A. D. 1626) the author of -this work met him in the delightful region of Kashnim. -He used to support himself on the extremities -of his fingers, so that his body came not into contact -with the ground, in which position he continued -from midnight until dawn. On the subject of -penance Hafiz says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“O, my heart! couldst thou but acquire a knowledge of religious austerity,</div> - <div class="i0">Thou wouldst be able to abandon women like smiling torches.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>The Mobed <span class="person">Sarósh</span>, the son of Kaiván, the son of -Kamkar, who was styled <span class="title">Namdár</span>, or “the illustrious,” -on account of the celebrity of his knowledge. -The Mobed carried his lineage on the father’s -side to the venerable prophet <span class="person">Zardúsht</span>, and on his -mother’s, to <span class="person">Jamásp</span> the Sage. He was equally conversant -with the theoretical and practical sciences; -and was master of the languages of Arabia, Persia, -and Hindustan; he had travelled over most of the -habitable world; his nights were passed in prayer; -his conduct was always pure. On coming into attendance -on Kaiván, he was illuminated by the sun of -his knowledge, and during his attendance on Farzanah -Bahrám, the son of Farhád, he acquired the -Arabic language. His age reached to sixty years; -in short he was a saint elect, who in the course of -his life never looked on a woman; his mouth was -never polluted with animal food of any description; -<a name="Page_114" id="Page_114"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 114</span> -he sought seclusion from the world, and limited himself -to a small quantity of food.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“If thou didst but know the pleasure of abandoning pleasure,</div> - <div class="i0">Thou wouldst never more talk about the pleasures of sense.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>He is the author of many admired literary works -and compilations; such as the <span class="title">Nosh Dárú</span>, “sweet -medicine;” the <span class="title">Sagangubín</span>, “dog’s honey,” and -the <span class="title">Zerdúsht Afshar</span>, “the companion of Zerdúsht,” -and such like. It was heard from an eminent doctor, -named <span class="person">Muhammed Mahsan</span>, who said thus: “I -heard from him <a name="Kaivan" id="Kaivan"></a>(Kaiván) three hundred and sixty -proofs confirmatory of the existence of the Deity: -but when I wished to commit them to writing, it -was no longer in my power.” People relate all -manner of miraculous stories about him; such as his -creating what was not previously in existence; revealing -secret matters, and concealing what was -evident; the acceptance or fulfilment of his prayers; -his performing a long journey in a short space of -time; his knowledge of things hidden from the -senses; and his giving a description of the same; -his appearing at the same time in places far distant -from each other; bringing the dead to life, and -depriving the living of vitality; his being enabled to -hear and understand the language of animals, vegetables, -minerals, etc.; to produce food and wine -without any visible means; to walk on the surface -of water, also through fire and air; and such like. -<a name="Page_115" id="Page_115"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 115</span> -The author met him in Kashmir in the year of the -Hejirah 1036 (A. D. 1627).</p> - -<p><span class="person">Firrah Kárí</span>, the attendant on the venerable <span class="person">Shídósh</span> -(an account of whom shall be soon given) was -a person, whose essence was adorned with science -and decorated by purity; the possessor of extraordinary -probity and sound understanding, said thus: -“I once received some injury from the peasantry of -Achán, a district bordering on the public and -sacred place of Kashmír: speaking of this to <span class="person">Yazdán -Silái</span>, a disciple attached to the Móbed Sarósh, -I said ‘the people of Achán have grievously afflicted -me,’ and stated to him the criminal conduct -of this wicked set of men. He answered: -‘Do you wish that the Almighty should overwhelm -with floods the cultivated grounds of -these wretches?’ I replied ‘Certainly.’ It -then began to rain so exceedingly, the loftiest and -strongest-built houses were overthrown; from the -overwhelming deluge ruin fell on their buildings -and tilled grounds; and the fields of these men -themselves were nearly destroyed by the waters -at the very commencement.” The Maulavi Mânevi -says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“As long as the heart of the righteous comes not to affliction,</div> - <div class="i0">God never brings calamity on any people.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>The rains still continued, which Sarósh having -<a name="Page_116" id="Page_116"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 116</span> -observed, he was exceedingly wroth with his disciple -and reproved him; and that same day the rain ceased. -Firrah-Kári used to say, “Mobed Sarósh was acquainted -with the desires of my heart, and possessed -power over men’s minds.” He also related -the following story concerning him: “At the time -of arriving in the caravanserai of Bálik, in the -city of Tarkhan, the men of that place wished -to act wickedly towards us, and practise oppression. -I explained the nature of their conduct to -the Mobed, on which he retired into a corner. That -same night there appeared in the air men whose -heads reached to the heavens, whilst their feet -touched the earth. The people of the city were -seized with consternation and desisted from oppressing -us, and the merchants at the same time -bestowed freedom on those who had been captives -for many years.” The Mobed Húshyár relates: “Being in want of -a few direms, I went to Yazdán Sitái, the disciple -of the Mobed Sarósh; on this he stretched forth -his hand, and taking up some broken pottery, -formed twenty heaps of it: having breathed on -these a few times, they all became gold Mohurs: -these he put into my hands, and I disbursed them -in the course of my ordinary expenses.” He also -relates: “Yazdán Sitái constructed a house of -such a kind that, when any one entered, he beheld -<a name="Page_117" id="Page_117"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 117</span> -the sun; and when the holy man sat with -his friends, he appeared as a crocodile coming to -the river-bank, which was about to snatch away -all present. He sometimes threw into the fire -towels on which the flames had no effect: he -frequently repeated something, stirring his lips, -and so rendered himself invisible; he used sometimes -to appear in the air, and used to say: ‘I -am actually at rest, although I appear otherwise.’” -<span class="person">Shidosh</span>, the son of <span class="person">Anosh</span>, said: “We -were once seated near him when he placed a taper -in a basin of water; there immediately appeared -some peacocks turning towards the water, plunging -their heads into it, and displaying all their -beauty, whilst we remained in utter astonishment.” -Shidosh also says: “I once beheld him -disporting in the midst of a blazing fire.” Nay, the -writer of these pages has seen him swallow fire. -The Mobed Húshyár says: “He once exhibited a -sight, so as to make a house appear filled with -serpents and scorpions.” He used also to lay -on the breast of a person plunged in sleep, something -of such a nature as to make him return an -answer to every question proposed to him. The -Mobed Húshyár also relates: “I once beheld the -Hakim (the Sage) Kamran of Shiraz, in the feast -of joy and hospitality made for the reception of an -Iraki friend, light a match: on this, all the -Lulees<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_333" id="fnanchor_333"></a><a href="#footnote_333" class="fnanchor">[333]</a></span> -<a name="Page_118" id="Page_118"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 118</span> -then in the house stripped themselves naked -and began to dance, whilst we looked on at a -distance. The sage said: ‘This we have learnt -from Yazdan Sitái: as I give no invitation to -Lulees, and no others can be prevailed on to -commit such indecency, I therefore tried the -experiment on the party of them assembled in -this place.’” Many other things of a similar -nature are related concerning Yazdan Sitái.</p> - -<p><span class="person">Khoda Jói</span> was a native of Herat, who had passed -many years in the service of exemplary and holy -men; he relates: “I once saw in a vision holy -personages come around me and say: ‘Depart -and seek a spiritual guide free from prejudice.’ -During many years’ search I was unable to discover -such a character; but having once seen in -a dream, ‘that Azar Kaiván of Istakhar was one of -that description:’ I went near him in company -with <span class="person">Farzanah Khushi</span>.”</p> - -<p>Khoda Jói excelled in the knowledge of Parsi -and Arabic; he avoided altogether animal food of -every description; he could suppress his breath during -four watches (twelve hours), and was in the -habit of practising the Hubs-i-dam; he never slept -at night, nor ate more than fifty direms weight of -<a name="Page_119" id="Page_119"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 119</span> -food. He never gave utterance to a lie, and whatever -he stated had reference to exalted objects and -pursuits: even these were uttered only at the solicitation -of his friends. He is the author of the -volume entitled <span class="title">Jám-i-Kai Khusró</span>, “the cup of -Kai Khusró,” an admirable commentary on the -poetic compositions of Azar Kaiván, and also containing -his visions. He arrived in the delightful -regions of Kashmir in the year of the Hejirah 1040 -(A. D. 1631), where the author met him: in that -same year this distinguished personage hastened -from this abode of evanescence to the mansions of -eternity. Hafiz of Shiraz says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“O joyous day, when I depart from this abode of desolation;</div> - <div class="i0">I then seek my soul’s repose and follow the adored - object:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_334" id="fnanchor_334"></a><a href="#footnote_334" class="fnanchor">[334]</a></span></div> - <div class="i0">Fluttering about like a solar mote in the <em>atmosphere</em> of that lip,</div> - <div class="i0">Until I attain at last to the fountain-head of the radiant sun.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>The Mobed Khushi is the author of the <span class="title">Bazm-Gah</span> -(or “banqueting house”), in which treatise when -describing the stations of Azar Kaiván’s illustrious -disciples and most eminent followers, who are twelve -in number; he enumerates them in this order: <span class="person">Ardashír</span>, -<span class="person">Kharad</span>, <span class="person">Shiroíyah</span>, <span class="person">Khiradmand</span>, <span class="person">Farhad</span>, -<span class="person">Suhrab</span>, <span class="person">Azádah</span>, <span class="person">Bizhen</span>, -<span class="person">Isfendiar</span>, <span class="person">Farshidwird</span>, -<a name="Page_120" id="Page_120"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 120</span> -<span class="person">Bahman</span> and <span class="person">Rustam</span>: the daily food of each of these -individuals was much below ten direms weight: -and they carried the austerities recommended by -Kaiván to the utmost limit, so that no others of his -disciples attained to the same rank as these twelve -persons. Of Farhád, Farshídwird, and Bahman, -some account has been given in the preceding part -of this work.</p> - -<p>In the <span class="title">Bazm-gah</span>, Khushi thus states respecting -himself: “In the days of my youth, it was my anxious -desire to find <em>a spiritual guide</em>. I therefore -had recourse to the eminent doctors of Iran, Turan, -Room, and Hindustan; that is, to Moslems, -Hindoos, Guebers, Christians, and Jews. They -all said to me: ‘Quit thy present faith and pass -over to us:’ but my heart felt no inclination to -change of religion, to adopting another, and abandoning -opinions, as they did not afford me sufficient -light in the object of my pursuit.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Whilst a person beholds not the water, why pull off his slippers?”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>“Such is the language of the prejudiced; although -each of these doctors praised himself as being free -from its influence: I afterwards beheld, in a vision, -a mighty river from which streams and canals -issued forth, all of which after many windings -returned back into the same great river, and were -confined within its two banks. I abandoned the -<a name="Page_121" id="Page_121"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 121</span> -great water, and in order to allay my thirst, directed -my steps towards the rivulets in search of -water: but as the banks of their channels were -difficult of access through slime and mud, and carrying -a bowl,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_335" id="fnanchor_335"></a><a href="#footnote_335" class="fnanchor">[335]</a></span> -I could not reach the stream, and -remained in great perplexity. At length my father -came up and said: ‘Entreat God to conduct -thee to the water.’ A voice then reached my -ear: ‘This man has abandoned the river, and -directed his face towards the rivulets.’ On my -directing my steps towards the river, a blessed -Angel said to me: ‘The great river is Azar Kaiván; -the small rivulets are the doctors.’ I then -knew that the slime and mud of the banks, the -bowl, and the rivulets refer to prejudice and envy: -therefore, being accompanied by Khoda Jói, I -joined myself to Azar Kaiván, and discovered the -object of my inquiries.” Hafiz of Shiraz observes:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Whither can we turn our face from the high-priest’s threshold?</div> - <div class="i0">Happiness dwells in his abode, and salvation within that portal.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p><span class="person">Farzanah Bahram</span>, the son of Farhád, was called -Bahram the Less: the <span class="title">Arzhang Máni</span> (the gallery of -Máni) is the production of his genius: he was in -attendance on Zu-al-Ulum, but attained to communion -<a name="Page_122" id="Page_122"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 122</span> -with God and to perfection, in the service of -Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad. In the year -of the Hejirah 1048 (A. D. 1638) the compiler of -these pages met with Bahram the Less, the son of -Farhad, in the imperial city of Lahore, in perfect -health, but in the same year that sage bade adieu to -this world. He was a man who found repose in -God, and avoided all intercourse with society: he -was learned in all the theoretical and practical sciences, -and eminently conversant with the languages -of Arabia, Persia, Hindustan, and Europe: by him -were translated into Persian, that is, into Parsi -mixed with Arabic, the works of the Shaikh <span class="person">Ishrák -Shuháb ud dín Maktúl</span>, which treated of the Ishrakian -tenets; his time was employed in transcribing -books, from which source he was obliged to derive -his scanty support. He never slept at night; in -the year of the Hejirah 1048 (A. D. 1638) the author -beheld him with Húshyár at Lahore; during the -entire night, the writer of these pages sat in his presence, -and from morn until evening Húshyár remained -before him; whilst the above-mentioned -Farzanah, seated on both knees, with his face to the -east, never moved: people have witnessed in him -many things of this description. They say that he -used to remain seated two or three days after this -fashion, neither eating bread nor drinking water; he -never laid his back on the ground; his food consisted -<a name="Page_123" id="Page_123"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 123</span> -of a small quantity of cow’s milk; his lips were never -polluted with any other substance, and even this he -swallowed at intervals of two or three days.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Be thou as a goblet, free from the contamination of body,</div> - <div class="i0">Be thou earth in the footsteps of the pure.</div> - <div class="i0">As from this earth thou mayst come to dust,</div> - <div class="i0">Break through the dust, and attain the human nature.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>The Mobed Paristár, the son of Khurshíd, who -was originally of Isfashán, assumed the elements of -body in Patna; the Mobed, when a youth, was -accepted by divine favour, and through the aid of -the Almighty became one of the <span class="title">Yekánah Bín</span>, or -“seers of unity.” Having in his early years entered -into the service of Azar Kaiván, he obtained a perfect -sanctity through the society of his holy master’s -disciples. He however devoted himself chiefly to -the Mobed Sarósh: he was the author of the <cite>Taprah-i-Mobedi</cite>, -or “the Sacerdotal Kettledrum.” In -the year of the Hejirah 1049 (A. D. 1640) he -came to Kashmir, where the author of this work -was admitted into his society. From the nightfal -until sunrise, the Mobed Paristár gave himself -up to the Saráíst, which in the celestial language, -or the <span class="title">Desatir</span>, they call <dfn>Faró</dfn>, or “downward:” -this rite, according to them, consists in -elevating the feet in the air, and standing on the -head; which position is called in Hindi <span class="title">Kapal -Asan</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_336" id="fnanchor_336"></a><a href="#footnote_336" class="fnanchor">[336]</a></span> -<a name="Page_124" id="Page_124"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 124</span> -or “head-seat.” He of a sudden quitted the body and -entered the bowers of Paradise. A Mobed has said:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“If thou be a wanderer upon the path of spirituality,</div> - <div class="i0">Fix not on the (external) robe, the motion of thy heart,</div> - <div class="i0">For nothingness will be the dwelling of thy body:</div> - <div class="i0">Although in reality thou continuest to move.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>The Mobed Peshkár, the son of Khurshíd, was -also born in Patna, and one year younger than Perishtar -(his brother). He became unrivalled during -his age, in the Hindi chaunts and poems of that sect. -He was the <em>servant of the leader</em> Azar Kaiván and -his disciples, and whilst in the service of the Mobed -Sarósh he attained the knowledge of God, and of -himself, and he became eminently divested of prejudice -and exempted from human infirmities: being -totally unfettered by the bonds or chains of any sect -whatever, and studiously shunning the polemic domains -of prejudice: in short, the eulogium of one -creed and the abhorrence of another, entered not -into his system. He came to Kashmir with his elder -brother, with the purpose of departing from thence -to Kathay: he was noted for the imprisonment of the -breath, concerning which the Mobed Húshíyár said: -“He once suppressed his breath and plunged into -the water, where he remained immersed during -two watches (six hours), after which interval he -again raised his head above the surface.”</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0"><span class="sc">Hemistich</span>: “Wherever he may be, O God, guard him in safety!”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 125</span> -<span class="person">Shídosh</span>, the son of Anosh, descended from the -prophet Zardusht by his father Anósh, who was -styled <dfn>Farhosh</dfn>, “the splendor of intellect,” was one -of the sincerely devoted disciples of Azar Kaiván: -<span class="person">Zarbád</span> was also descended from the same divine -apostle Zardúsht, and finally became a man of opulence, -although at the beginning of his career he -only possessed the pangs of destitution. They both -came one day into the presence of Azar Kaiván, and -lamented the hardship of their forlorn state; on this -Azar replied: “Proceed with a small stock to the -quarter of sunrise, traverse the eastern borders, -and dispose of it with speed towards the descending -sun, as your condition, through this depressed -site of difficulty will be changed into the means -of affluence.” Nearly at the period of giving these -instructions, Azar Kaiván having withdrawn from -this earthly tabernacle, hastened to the resting-place -of the spheres, and these two Jupiter-like stars, the -unrivalled splendor of the world, set out as directed. -At length, through the efficacy of Kaiván’s enlightened -spirit, the state of these pilgrims continued to -obtain an ascendancy, until they became possessed -of great opulence. Hafiz says thus:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“They who by a look convert clay into the philosopher’s stone,</div> - <div class="i0">What great matter if they bestow a single glance on me.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>After this, <span class="person">Zarbádí</span> sent to Patna an ancient servant, -Farrah Kari by name, to conduct his daughter -<a name="Page_126" id="Page_126"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 126</span> -to the musk-scented pavilion of Shídósh, the -illustrious son of Anósh. After this event, Farrah -Kari and Shídósh, proceeded from Patna on a commercial -adventure, and formed the plan of setting -out from Kashmir to Kashgar: they were however -obliged to remain some time in Kashmir: but on the -first moment of moving from Patna, there arose in -the breast of Shídósh an anxious wish for attaining -the knowledge of himself, the investigation of his -ancient abode, ascertaining his natural light, and -exploring the march of the invisible world: as from -the very first, this bright Jupiter, through the entreaty -of Kaivan (Saturn) had directed his steps to -the region of atoms and the abode of elements of the -celestial and terrestrial parents: consequently, when -Kaivan had abandoned this bodily frame, he sat down -with his disciples,</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Choose thou companions who are better than thyself,</div> - <div class="i0">In order that thy understanding and faith may increase.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>He consequently devoted himself to religious exercises, -listening in the first place to the voice called -in Persian <dfn>âzád ává</dfn> “the independent voice,” in -Arabic, <dfn>saut-i-mutluk</dfn>, or “the absolute sound;” -and in Hindi, <dfn>anáhid</dfn>. When he had duly practised -this rite, he directed his eyes, opened wide between -the eyebrows, which in Hindi they call <dfn>terátuk</dfn>, until -the blessed form of Kaiván was clearly manifested: -he next contemplated that form, until it actually was -<a name="Page_127" id="Page_127"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 127</span> -never more separated from him; he at last reached -the region of intellect, and having passed through the -six worlds, arrived in the seventh, and in this state -of entrancement obtained admittance to the Almighty -presence; so that, during this abstraction from self, -the annihilation (of every thing human) and the eternity -(of the spiritual) was joined to his existence. -Sâdi says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“O youth! enter thou this very day into the path of obedience,</div> - <div class="i0">For to-morrow the vigor of youth comes not from the aged man.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>One morning at the dawn of day he said thus to -the author of the Dabistan: “Yesterday in the -gloom of night, directed by the light of spirit, I -departed from this external body, and arrived at -the mysterious illumination ever replete with effulgence: -the chamberlain of truth removed from -before me the curtains, so that on quitting this -mortal nature and leaving the visible world, I -traversed the angelic sphere. The supreme independently-existing -light of lights became revealed -in all the impressive, operative, attributive, -and essential radiance of glory: this state of imaginary -being disappeared, actual existence was -clearly witnessed.” Hafiz says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“The perfect beauty of my beloved is not concealed by an interposing veil;</div> - <div class="i0">O Hafiz, thou art the curtain of the road: remove away.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 128</span> -Shidósh, though far removed from receiving -pleasure by dainty food, still appeared always in -magnificent dresses: his audience always diffused -the fragrance of perfume; he even clad in handsome -dresses his head domestic servants, and other dependents, -nay his very porter and doorkeeper. He -used to say: “My state proceeds from the splendor -of Azar Kaiván’s aid: to feel contempt for such a -capital would be highly improper; and not to -make use of it would be an abomination before -my benefactor; for otherwise, I derive no pleasure -from fine raiment.” As to his abstinence in point -of food, and his shunning of female society, what -has been mentioned is sufficient on these heads. -Shidosh Bihin was a youth of a finely proportioned -person, and beautiful countenance; the following -was the rule observed by him: he never attached -merit to any strange creed, but endeavoured to divest -himself altogether of prejudice, and maintained very -little intercourse with the generality of mankind: -when he formed an intimacy, on the first day he -testified only a small degree of warmth; he exhibited -greater attention on the second; so that he daily -made greater advances in the path of friendship; -progressively increasing his love and affection: as -to what has been stated relative to his displaying no -great degree of warmth on the first interview, the -same proportion obtained when he shewed a decrease -<a name="Page_129" id="Page_129"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 129</span> -of warmth to some; that same would be reckoned -very great in any other. He always asserted, -that in the society of friends, their intercourse must -not be separated from meditation on God, as whatever -is, is but a radiancy emanating from the sun -of his essence: the visible and invisible of the world -being only forms of that existence. Rafiah says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“If angels and demons be formed from one principle,</div> - <div class="i0">The husbandman, the spring, the seed, and the field must be the same:</div> - <div class="i0">What has his unity to dread from the plurality of the human race?</div> - <div class="i0">Although you tie the knot a hundred-fold, there is only a single cord.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>Shidosh was seized with so severe an illness in -Kashmir, that his case surpassed the art of the physician: -as Urfi says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“What physician can there be, if the Messiah himself be taken ill?”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>All the people about Shidosh were disconsolate, -but he remained cheerful of heart, and in proportion -as the symptoms became more aggravated, his -cheerfulness increased, and he frequently recited -these couplets from Hafiz:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“O joyous day, when I depart from this abode of desolation,</div> - <div class="i0">Seeking the repose of my soul, and setting out in search of my beloved:</div> - <div class="i0">Dancing like a solar mote around the atmosphere of her lips,</div> - <div class="i0">Until I reach the fountain-head of the radiant - sun.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_337" id="fnanchor_337"></a><a href="#footnote_337" class="fnanchor">[337]</a></span></div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>On the day of his departure from this temporary -halting-place to the eternal mansion of repose and -the exalted seat of happiness, his disconsolate friends -<a name="Page_130" id="Page_130"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 130</span> -and affectionate domestics were deeply afflicted; but -Shidosh retained his cheerfulness and thus addressed -them with an expression of delight: “I am not -grieved at this disease of body, why then do you -grieve? nay ought you not to wish that I, having -quitted this gloomy abode of phantasy, should -hasten to one beyond the confines of space, and -the mansions of intellect may become united to -the truly existent and independent (first cause).” -The Maulavi Mânavi says thus:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i2b">“If death be a human being, say to him, ‘draw near,’</div> - <div class="i2">That I may closely fold him in a fond embrace.</div> - <div class="i2">From him I extort by force eternal life,</div> - <div class="i0">Whilst he but snatches from me the Durvish’s party-colored dress.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>He then lifted up his hands and directing his face -to heaven, the Kiblah of prayer, recited the following -blessed couplets front the <span class="title">Sahifah al Auliya</span>, -“volume of the Saints,” written by the Imam <span class="person">Muhammed -Nur Baksh</span>.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i2b">“Whether we are directors or - guides<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_338" id="fnanchor_338"></a><a href="#footnote_338" class="fnanchor">[338]</a></span></div> - <div class="i0">Still do we want to be guided, on account of the infancy of our steps.</div> - <div class="i2">We are but solitary drops from the ocean of existence,</div> - <div class="i2">However much we possess of divine revelation and proof.</div> - <div class="i2">I am far from the great reservoir of drops,</div> - <div class="i2">Convey me, O God, to the boundless ocean of light!”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 131</span> -On reciting these lines he closed his eyes. The -Shaikh Abúlfaiz Faiyazi says on this subject:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“The drop became a fountain, and the fountain grew into a river,</div> - <div class="i0">Which river became reunited to the ocean of eternity.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>This event occurred in the year of the Hejirah -1040 (A. D. 1629): his affectionate friends expressed -their grief in the following manner:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Thy brilliant hues still exist in the parterre,</div> - <div class="i0">Thy fragrance still survives in the jessamine;</div> - <div class="i0">The sight of thee is put off to the day of resurrection;</div> - <div class="i0">It is well: but it forms the theme of many a tale.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>The author also in his elegy on Shídósh thus -expresses his grief:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i4">“Since Shídósh departed from my sight</div> - <div class="i0">That which was a receptacle of eyes became a receptacle of rivers;</div> - <div class="i0">Had my eyes been a channel, they would have become a river-bed:</div> - <div class="i0">The resting place of the bird was the paradisian sphere:</div> - <div class="i0">From this lowly nest he departed to the nest on high.</div> - <div class="i0">He was truly free and sought no stores except those of holy freedom.</div> - <div class="i0">He abandoned his body to corporeal matter, and his spirit joined the spiritual region.</div> - <div class="i0">His soul was united to the sublime being, the creator of souls,</div> - <div class="i0">Soaring beyond the limits of heaven, earth, and time.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>If the author attempted to describe the learned -and pious Abádíyán who were seen in the <span class="title">Dadistan -Aursah</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_339" id="fnanchor_339"></a><a href="#footnote_339" class="fnanchor">[339]</a></span> -this treatise would never be brought to a -conclusion; he now therefore proceeds to mention -<a name="Page_132" id="Page_132"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 132</span> -some others, who though professing a faith different -from the Yezdánián or Abadíyán, yet walked according -to the institutes of Kaiván’s disciples, and -attained their great object, the knowledge of God: -and although this class is too numerous to be fully -described, a few of the eminent personages are now -about to be mentioned.</p> - -<p><span class="person">Mahummed Alí</span>, of Shiraz was the fellow-student -of Shah Futtah Allah, and he traced his family to -Azar Kaiván: he however attained perfection through -the society of Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhád, -and had also traversed the seven climes. A thief -came to his house one night, on perceiving whom -Muhammed Alí pretended to fall asleep on his carpet, -so that the robber might not suppose him to -be awake, and continue his pursuits without apprehension. -The robber searched the house carefully, -but as all the effects were concealed in a secure place, -he was unable to get at them. On this Muhammed -raising his head, said to him: “I laid myself down -to sleep, that thou mightst accomplish thy desires, -whereas thou art in despair: be no longer -uneasy.” He then arose and pointed out the -place where all the things were stored away: in consequence -of this generous proceeding, the robber -abandoned his infamous profession, and became a -virtuous character.</p> - -<p><span class="person">Muhammed Said</span> of Isfahan was a Saiyid descended -<a name="Page_133" id="Page_133"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 133</span> -from Husain, who attained his great object through -Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad. He once said -to the author: “The first time I obtained the honor -of admittance to the audience of the distinguished -Farzanah, he rose up on seeing me, and showed -the proper respect due to an honorable person, -directing me to be seated on the most distinguished -couch. Some time after, entered a naked -Fakir, but Farzanah Bahram moved not from his -place, but pointed him to a seat in the slipper-repository. -I felt this scruple; surely the highest -distinction is due to the Durvish. Farzanah then -turning his face to the wall, which was ornamented -with paintings, said: ‘O, lifeless figure, -thou art seated on high; but external form confers -not distinction; but Durvishes enjoy a rank, -when their bodies are under the control of their -souls,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_340" id="fnanchor_340"></a><a href="#footnote_340" class="fnanchor">[340]</a></span> -and their souls united with the supreme -object of love; even in this assembly they are -seated with me in my heart.’ On hearing this, I -turned into the right road.” In the year of the -Hejirah 1045 (A. D. 1634), he abandoned this elemental -frame in Lahore.</p> - -<p><span class="person">Ashur Beg Karamanlu</span> is also one of those who -obtained the gift of spiritual intelligence through -Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, notwithstanding -<a name="Page_134" id="Page_134"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 134</span> -the total absence of regular studies: by the -exertion of his innate powers, he, like the other Yekanah -Bin “seers of one God,” attained communion -with God. In the year of the Hejirah 1048 (A. D. -1636) the author conversed with him in Kashmir, -and inquired into the nature of his intercourse with -Bahram. He answered: “I went by way of experiment -to Farzanah, and he thus directed me: -‘Whether alone or in a crowd, in retirement or -in public, every breathing which issues forth -must proceed from the head; and on this point -there must be no inattention.’ He also said: -‘Guard the internal breath as long as thou canst, -directing thy face to the pine-formed heart, until -the invocation be performed by the heart in the -stomach; also thy invocation should be thus: -‘God! God!’ Meditate also on this sentiment: -‘O Lord! none but thou forms the object of my -desire!’ When I had duly practised this, and -found its impressive influence, then from the -bottom of my heart I sincerely sought God. -After some time he enjoined me to practise the -<dfn>Tawajjah-i-Talkín</dfn>, ‘turning to instruction:’ that -is: ‘keep thy soul in the presence of God, divested -of letters and sounds, whether Arabic or -Persian, never removing thy mind from the -‘pine-formed heart.’ By conforming to these -instructions, I have come at last to such a state, -that the world and its inhabitants are but as a -<a name="Page_135" id="Page_135"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 135</span> -shadow before me; and their very existence as -the appearance of the vapor of the desert.’”</p> - -<p>He was truly a man who had entirely withdrawn -from all external employments and concerns; never -mixing with the people of the world. If a person -deposited food before him, he took only the quantity -he thought proper, and gave away the remainder; -he never polluted his hand with money in gold, silver, -or copper; and he frequently passed two or -three days altogether without food and never requested -any thing.</p> - -<p><span class="person">Mahmud Beg Timan</span>, so called from the Timan -tribe of Arang in Lahore, joined himself also to -Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, and as the -precepts of that sage were entirely congenial to his -mind, he commenced his religious profession under -him, and became one of the Yekanah Bin, “seer of -one God,” and “knowing God:” thus without the -aid of books he attained to the knowledge of the -Lord, and notwithstanding the absence of written -volumes, discovered the actual road. In the year -of the Hejirah 1048 (A. D. 1637), whilst in Kashmir, -coming out of his cell one day, he saw before him a -wounded dog, moaning piteously; as the animal was -unable to move, he therefore sold the only two -objects he possessed, his carpet for prayer and his -rosary, with the proceeds of which he purchased -remedies for the dog. That same year, he said to -<a name="Page_136" id="Page_136"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 136</span> -the author: “On the first day of turning my heart -to the mental invocation of God, I had scarcely -performed it ten times, when an evident influence -was manifested: at the moment of the first part, -called <dfn>nafi</dfn>, of the sentence, my human existence -disappeared; at the time of the second, called -<dfn>asbat</dfn>, a determined sign of divine grace became -visible: my sentence was this: ‘There is no God, -but God.’”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_341" id="fnanchor_341"></a><a href="#footnote_341" class="fnanchor">[341]</a></span> -After this manner, several of this sect, -by the diligent practice of faith, attained to the -knowledge of God.</p> - -<p><span class="person">Musa</span> and <span class="person">Harun</span> were two Jews, to whom Farzanah -Bahram, the son of Farhad, gave these names: -they were distinguished by a profound knowledge -of their own faith, and highly celebrated among the -Rabbins, who are a particular sect of Jewish teachers. -On their introduction into Bahram’s society, -they were fascinated by his manners, and through -his system of faith acquired the knowledge of themselves. -They applied themselves to commerce, and -neither in buying or selling did a falsehood proceed -from their lips, as is the custom of merchants. They -have thus recorded: “To whomsoever Bahram, the -son of Farhad, uttered a single word about the -<a name="Page_137" id="Page_137"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 137</span> -path of religion, he became immediately fascinated -by his manner: also whoever beheld him -felt an attachment to him; even the hardened -infidel who approached him, humbled himself, and -we have often witnessed such events: for example, -the <span class="person">Mulla Muhammed Sáid</span> of Samarkand, who was -our intimate friend, through excess of prejudice -hurried once to revile him: at that moment, Bahram -had retired from Lahore into a burying-ground: -when the Mulla approached, he found -himself irresistibly impelled to run forward and -laid his face on Bahram’s feet: and on Bahram’s -addressing a few words to him, immediately embraced -his faith. I afterwards questioned the -Mulla about the exact nature of this conversion -from infidelity, and he replied: ‘I no sooner -beheld him than I fell at his feet; and when he -addressed a few words to me, I became enraptured -with him.’ The Mullah always styled -Bahram ‘the plunderer of hearts.’”</p> - -<p>One day the author asked Musa, “is Kasun thy -brother?” he replied, “people say so.” I then -asked, “who is your father?” he answered, “our -mother knows that.”</p> - -<p><span class="person">Antun Bushuyah -Wávaraj</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_342" id="fnanchor_342"></a><a href="#footnote_342" class="fnanchor">[342]</a></span> -was a Frank, zealous -in the Christian faith, and also possessed of great -<a name="Page_138" id="Page_138"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 138</span> -property; through divine aid, he conceived an -attachment to the society of Durvishes, and for -the purpose of acquiring knowledge held frequent -conferences with them: through his having discovered -the path pointed out by the son of Furhad, -he altogether resigned his worldly concerns, -assumed the profession of a -<span class="title">Kalander</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_343" id="fnanchor_343"></a><a href="#footnote_343" class="fnanchor">[343]</a></span> -and denied -himself the use of clothes: Farzanah always -called him “Messiah.” He used to appear perfectly -naked, and never wore clothes either summer -or winter: he abstained altogether from animals -of every description: he never solicited any thing, -but if a person brought food or drink before him, if -it were not animal food, he would eat part of it. One -day, although an evil-disposed person smote him so -that his limbs were wounded, yet he never even -looked at his oppressor; when his persecutor had -departed, I, the author, came up as the people were -speaking of the injury inflicted on him; on my enquiring -the particulars from himself, he replied: -“I am not distressed for my own bodily suffering, -but that person’s hands and fists must have suffered -so much.” The Imam <span class="person">Kali Warastah</span>, “the -humble,” says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“If the thorn break in my body, how trifling the pain!</div> - <div class="i0">But how acutely I feel for the hapless broken thorn!”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 139</span> -<span class="person">Ram Bhót</span>, a Hindu, was a learned Brahmin of -Benares; on joining the son of Farhad, he desisted -altogether from his former rites, and began to follow -the path pointed out by Bahrám. The Mobed Hoshyar -says: “I have often heard wonderful stories -concerning him; a person named Muhammed Yakub -was so ill, that the physicians having given up -all hopes of his cure, his relations, in their affliction, -had recourse to an ignorant woman who -reckoned herself a skilful personage: I went one -day near Ram Bhót, and found him reposing his -head on his knee, on which this reflection passed -across my mind: ‘if Ram Bhót be one of the elect, -he can tell whether Muhammed Yakub is to remain -or pass away.’ He raised up his head, and -looking on me with a smile, said: ‘God only -knows the hidden secrets; however, Muhammed -Yakub is not to depart: in another week he will -be restored to health.’ And truly the thing -came to pass as he had declared.” Through his -guidance <span class="person">Ram Chand</span>, a Kshatri, one of the chiefs of -the <span class="title">Sahan Sakal</span>, adopted the faith: and through the -instruction of these two individuals, many of their -tribe embraced the independent faith as promulgated -by the son of Farhad. The word -<dfn>Sah</dfn><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_344" id="fnanchor_344"></a><a href="#footnote_344" class="fnanchor">[344]</a></span> -in Hindi is -applied to “a possessor or powerful person,” and -<a name="Page_140" id="Page_140"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 140</span> -the <span class="title">Sahkal</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_345" id="fnanchor_345"></a><a href="#footnote_345" class="fnanchor">[345]</a></span> -are a division of the Kshatri, an Indian -cast or tribe. In reality, if the writer attempted to -enumerate the numbers of different nations who -zealously adopted the doctrines and ritual of Bahram, -this work would become exceedingly prolix; he must -therefore resist from such an undertaking. The -author of these pages has heard from Farzanah Bahram, -the son of Farhad, as stated on the authority -of Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, that one -day the Shaikh <span class="person">Bahá-ud-din Mohammed Amali</span>, -who was a <dfn>Mujtahad</dfn>, “a champion,” of the sectaries -of Alí, came near Kaiván and obtained an interview: -having thus become acquainted with Kaiván’s -perfection and wisdom, he was exceedingly rejoiced -and happy, and recited this tetrastich:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“In the kâbah and the firetemple the perfect saint performed his rounds,</div> - <div class="i0">And found no trace of any existence (save that of God);</div> - <div class="i0">As the splendor of the Almighty sheds its rays in every place,</div> - <div class="i0">Knock thou either at the door of the kâbah or the portals of the temple.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>After this interview, he became the diligent follower -of Kaiván, and resorted to the disciples of the -Master of all Sciences.</p> - -<p><span class="person">Mir Abulkasim Fandaraski</span> also, through his intercourse -with Kaiván’s disciples, became an adorer of -the sun, refraining from cruelty towards all living -<a name="Page_141" id="Page_141"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 141</span> -creatures. It is well known that being once asked: -“Why dost not thou in obedience to the law go on -the pilgrimage to Mecca?” He replied: “I go -not on this account, as I must there slaughter a -sheep with my own hand.” At present the author -proceeds to describe with the pen of truth a summary -of the institutes of the <dfn>Amézish</dfn>, “intercourse,” -held by the Abadian Durveshes with society. Those -who adopt this rule call it the <dfn>Amèzish-i-Farhang</dfn>, -or “the intercourse of science,” and <dfn>Mèzchar</dfn>, or -“Stranger’s remedy.” When a stranger to their -faith is introduced to one of their assemblies, far -from addressing harsh observations to him, they pass -eulogiums on his tenets, approve whatever he says, -and do not omit to lavish on him every mark of attention -and respect: this conduct proceeds from the -fundamental article of their creed, as they are convinced -that in every mode of belief, its followers may -come to God: nay, if those of a different faith should -present them a request respecting some object about -which they disagree, that is, solicit some act by -which they may approach God, they do not withhold -their compliance. They do not enjoin a person -to abandon his actual profession of faith, as -they account it unnecessary to give him useless pain -of mind. Moreover when any one is engaged in -concerns with them, they withhold not their aid -from his society and support, but practise towards -<a name="Page_142" id="Page_142"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 142</span> -him to the utmost extent of their ability, whatever -is most praiseworthy in this world and the next: -they are also on their guard against indulging in -sentiments of prejudice, hatred, envy, malice, giving -pre-eminence to one faith above another, or adopting -one creed in preference to another. They also -esteem the learned, the Durvishes, the pure of life, -the worshippers of God in every religion, as their -trusty friends; neither styling the generality of mankind -wicked, nor holding worldly-minded persons -in abhorrence: they observe, “what business has -he who desires not this world’s goods to abhor -the world?” for the sentiment of abhorrence can -proceed from the envious alone. They neither communicate -their secrets to strangers, nor reveal what -another communicates to them.</p> - -<p>A person named <span class="person">Mihráb</span> was among the disciples -who followed the son of Farhad, in the year of the -Hejirah 1047 (A. D. 1637); the author, who was -then in Kashmir, thus heard from Muhammad Fál -Hasîrî: “I once beheld Mihráb standing in the high -road, at the moment when a Khorasánian, seizing -on an old man by force, obliged him to labor for -him without recompense, and placed a heavy -burden on his head: at this Mihráb’s heart so -burned within him, that he said to the Khorasánian, -‘Withdraw thy hand from this old man, -that I may bear the burden whithersoever thou -<a name="Page_143" id="Page_143"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 143</span> -desirest.’ The Khorasánian was astonished, but -Mihráb, without paying any farther attention to -this, took the poor man’s load on his head, and -went along with his unjust oppressor, and on his -return from that person’s house showed no symptoms -of fatigue. On my observing to him, ‘This -oppressor has heaped affliction on a holy priest -and judge like thee!’ he replied, ‘What could -a helpless person do? the load must be conveyed -to his house, and he was unable to place -it on his shoulders, as it was unbecoming for him; -nor was he able to give money (which is difficult -to be procured) in payment of his labour: he -of course seized on some one to perform his -work. I applaud him for granting my request, -and feel grateful to the old man for complying -with my wishes, suffering me to take his place, -and transferring his employment to myself.’”</p> - -<p>Hafiz of Shiraz thus expresses himself:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“The heavens themselves cannot remove the weight confided to us;</div> - <div class="i2">The lot of labour fell to my hapless name.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p><span class="person">Máh Ab</span>, the younger brother of the above <span class="person">Mihráb</span>, -was seen by the compiler of this work in attendance -on the son of Farhad, and in the year of the Hejirah -1048 (A. D. 1638) he thus heard from the Mulla -<span class="person">Mahdi</span> of Lahóre: “Bahram having one day sent -him on some errand to the bazar, he happened -to pass by the house of a person in the service of -<a name="Page_144" id="Page_144"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 144</span> -<span class="person">Alim Uddin</span> of Halsub, styled <span class="title">Wazir Khan</span>; the -soldier was then chastising his slave, saying: -‘Thou hast fraudulently sold one of my captives.’ -Máháb coming near the soldier, said to him: -‘Withdraw thy hand from this slave, and accept -me in place of him who has run away.’ Nay, this -request was so importunately urged, that the soldier -finally accepted the offer and desisted from -beating his slave. However, when the soldier had -discovered Máháb’s spiritual gifts, he permitted -him to return home, but Máháb would not quit -him. A week after this event, Farhad said in my -presence, ‘I know not where Máháb is;’ on -which, resting his head on his knees, he directed -his heaven-contemplating attention to the subject, -and the instant after, raising up his head, said: -‘Máháb is in the service of a certain soldier, and -has voluntarily resigned his person to servitude.’ -He forthwith proceeded to the soldier’s abode and -brought back Máháb.” Many similar transactions -are recorded of these sectaries. <span class="person">Muhammed -Shariz</span>, styled <span class="title">Amir ul -Umra</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_346" id="fnanchor_346"></a><a href="#footnote_346" class="fnanchor">[346]</a></span> -a Shirazi by descent, -thus says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Through auspicious love we make perfect peace in both worlds,</div> - <div class="i0">Be thou an antagonist, but experience nothing but love from us.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 145</span> -It is to be observed that Halsub is a place in one -of the districts of the <span class="place">Parjab</span>.</p> - -<p>A short notice of the <span class="title">Amîzesh-i Farhang</span>, or institute -of the Abadíyah Durveshes, having been thus given, -we next proceed to describe with the pen of truth -the chiefs and rulers of that religion. But it is always -to be borne in mind that the faith of the princes -of Persia, whether of the <span class="title">Abadian</span>, -<span class="title">Jaian</span>, <span class="title">Shaian</span>, -<span class="title">Yesani-an</span>, nay of the <span class="title">Peshdadian</span>, -<span class="title">Kaianian</span>, <span class="title">Ashkanian</span>, -and <span class="title">Sassanian</span> dynasties was such as has -been described; and although the system of Zardusht -obtained the pre-eminence, yet they have by means -of glosses reconciled his faith with that professed by -<span class="person">Abad</span>, <span class="person">Kaiomars</span>, -and the system of <span class="title">Húshang</span>, called -the <dfn>Farhang Kesh</dfn> or “excellent -faith;”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_347" id="fnanchor_347"></a><a href="#footnote_347" class="fnanchor">[347]</a></span> -they regarded -with horror whatever was contrary to the -code of Abád, which they extolled by all means in -their power, as <span class="person">Parviz</span> the son of -<span class="person">Hormuz</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_348" id="fnanchor_348"></a><a href="#footnote_348" class="fnanchor">[348]</a></span> in his -<a name="Page_146" id="Page_146"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 146</span> -answer to the Roman emperor, thus expresses -himself:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i2a">“We feel no shame in professing our ancient faith,</div> - <div class="i2">No other creed in this world can compete with that of Húshang.</div> - <div class="i0">The whole object of this code consists in promoting justice and love:</div> - <div class="i2">And contemplating the numbers of the celestial spheres.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>They give <span class="title">Máhábád</span> the names of <span class="title">Azar Húshang</span>, <span class="title">A -Húshang</span>, <span class="title">Húshang</span>, and <span class="title">A Hosh</span>. It is also recorded, -that the Almighty bestowed on the princes of -<span class="title">Ajam</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_349" id="fnanchor_349"></a><a href="#footnote_349" class="fnanchor">[349]</a></span> -prudence, sagacity, and perfection of intellect, -whereby their theories were connected with practical -results, and their words quite in harmony with -their deeds, so that their rule over this revolving -world for so many thousand years was entirely -owing to the efficacy of the above-mentioned principles -and covenants.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_316" id="footnote_316"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_316"><span class="muchsmaller">[316]</span></a> - <abbr title="Edition">Edit.</abbr> of Calcutta: <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">در و چون بسی برتری يافتم</span> In one -manuscript: <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">وچون بسی برتری يافتم</span>. In the manuscript of Oude: -<span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">درون چون بسی برتری يافتم</span>. The first is best.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_317" id="footnote_317"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_317"><span class="muchsmaller">[317]</span></a> - <abbr title="Edition">Edit.</abbr> of Calcutta and the manuscript of Oude have: <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">سروشی بتابيد آهرمنی</span>. -Two other manuscripts: <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">سروشی نپايدء و آهرمنی</span>. The -latter seems to be the better reading.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_318" id="footnote_318"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_318"><span class="muchsmaller">[318]</span></a> - <abbr title="Edition">Edit.</abbr> of Calcutta and the manuscript of Oude: <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">فراموش</span>; two other -manuscripts, <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">مرا هوش</span>—the better reading by far.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_319" id="footnote_319"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_319"><span class="muchsmaller">[319]</span></a> - Two manuscripts have <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">ز</span> between <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">خود</span> - and <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">سايه</span>; the <abbr title="edition">edit.</abbr> of -Calcutta and the manuscript of Oude have <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">خود سايه</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_320" id="footnote_320"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_320"><span class="muchsmaller">[320]</span></a> - The text has:</p> - -<div class="footnote poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0"><span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">بدان ره که رفتم شدم سوی تن</span></div> - <div class="i2"><span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">بعد ايزدی فره زان انجمن</span></div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="footnote"><span class="title">Izedi</span> means any thing given for God’s sake, or as one’s due; here it seems -to signify a divine gift. <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">يزد, ايزد</span>, <span class="trans">ized</span>, - also <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">يزدان</span>, <span class="trans">yezdan</span>, is the -name of God, and may be derived from <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">ईश</span>, - <span class="trans">ísa</span>, “to possess power,” -<span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">ईष</span>, <span class="trans">ísha</span>, - “to give,” <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">इष</span>, <span class="trans">isha</span>, - to wish, or according to Hyde (<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 159), -from <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">يشتن</span>, <dfn>ishten</dfn>, “supplicare, - intercedere.” <dfn>Ized</dfn> is also light, purity; -it is the name of good spirits, created for the good of the world, and -appointed to protect individuals.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_321" id="footnote_321"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_321"><span class="muchsmaller">[321]</span></a> - In the Gulshen raz, a poem quoted in our note <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 82, this idea is -expressed in several verses, of which the following:</p> - -<div class="footnote poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0"><span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">جهان از عقل و نفس و چرخ و اجرام</span></div> - <div class="i0"><span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">جون يک قطره دان زاغاز و انجام</span></div> - <div class="i0b">“The world, which is composed of intellect, soul, heavens, and bodies,</div> - <div class="i0">Know them to be as a drop from beginning to end.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="footnote">Room is wanted for quoting, as a curious coincidence with this image, four -beautiful strophes of Klopstock, from his ode “<cite lang="de" xml:lang="de">Die Frühlingsfeyer</cite>,” the -Festivity of Spring.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_322" id="footnote_322"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_322"><span class="muchsmaller">[322]</span></a> - This verse has already been quoted, <a href="#Page_6">page 6</a>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_323" id="footnote_323"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_323"><span class="muchsmaller">[323]</span></a> - Allusion is here made to the four immediate successors of Mohammed; -these were <span class="person">Abubeker</span>, <span class="person">Omár</span>, <span class="person">Osman</span>, and <span class="person">Alí</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote">The first who took the title of <span class="title">khalif</span>, that is “lieutenant of the Prophet,” -was <span class="person">Abdallah</span>, better known by the name of <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">ابو بِکْر</span>, <span class="trans">Abúbeker</span>, -“Father of the Virgin,” so called because Aíshá, his daughter, was the -only one of Mohammed’s wives who had not been before married to another -man. He was also distinguished by the title of <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">صديق</span> <span class="trans">sadik</span>, -or “the faithful witness,” given to him because he, the first Muselman -after Mohammed’s preaching, attested the miracle of the Prophet’s -ascension to heaven. It was he who collected the verses of the Koran, -which were written upon separate leaves, into one volume, called <span class="title">Almoshaf</span>, -“the book by excellence,” the original text of which was -deposited in the hands of Hafsat, daughter of Omar and widow of -Mohammed. After a reign of two years and three months, he died in -the year 13 of the Hejira, 634 A. D., not without having named his -successor.</p> - -<p class="footnote">This was <span class="person">Omar Ben al-Khetab</span>, known under the title of <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">فاروق</span>, -<span class="trans">fárúk´</span>, “the separator,” so called by Mohammed, because he had -separated the head from the body of a Muselman who, not satisfied -with the decision which the Prophet had given in a law-suit, came -to submit the case to Omar’s revision. Under Abubeker’s khalifat, Omar -acted as chief of justice, or chancellor. As khalif he was the first -who took the title of <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">امير ألمومنين</span>, <span class="trans">Emir al-Mu´mením</span>, “prince or -commander of the faithful,” which title devolved to all his successors. -He conquered Syria, Chaldæa, Mesopotamia, Persia, and Egypt, and -built the town of Bassora at the mouth of the Tigris, in order to prevent -the Persians from taking the route to India by the gulph of Persia. -After a reign of ten years he was killed by the hand of a Persian slave, -who, having complained of his master’s cruelty to him, did not receive -the expected redress. Omar, a judge cruel but just, would not fix -the right of succession upon his son, but wishing to keep the khalifat -elective, named six persons, called <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">اهل الشوري</span>, <span class="trans">ahel al-shurah</span>, -“people of council,” who should choose a khalif among themselves.</p> - -<p class="footnote">Among these were <span class="person">Osman</span> and <span class="person">Ali</span>. After a hard contest between -these two competitors, the former, supported by his four colleagues, was -proclaimed khalif at the end of the year 23, or the beginning of 24 of the -Hejira, 643 or 644 A. D. Osman Ben Affan was called by his partisans -<span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">ذو النورين</span>, <span class="trans">zo ul naráin</span>, “the possessor of two lights,” because he -had married Rakíah and Omm al Kachúm, both daughters of Mohammed, -whose prophecy was supposed to be the source of light diffused -over his whole posterity. Osman published the Koran such as it was in -the original text, deposited (as was before said) in the hands of Hafsat, -one of Mohammed’s widows, and he caused all copies, differing from -this one, to be suppressed. The domination of the Mohammedans was -established and extended, to the east, in Khorassen and in Upper Asia; -to the west, over the whole northern coast of Africa and even a part -of Spain, during this khalif’s reign, which, after eleven years, terminated -by his violent death in an insurrection which took place against him -in Egypt.</p> - -<p class="footnote">The Egyptians offered the government to Ali. As before mentioned, -he was one of the six persons named by Omar as fit for the khalifat, -which Ali claimed as his right, being the cousin-german and son-in-law -(husband of Fatima, the eldest daughter) of Mohammed, and thus the -head of the family of the Hashemites, who were distinguished by the -name of “the house of the Prophet.” After Osman’s death, Ali was by -his party proclaimed the head of the Muselmans. His title was <span lang="ar" xml:lang="ar">اسد الله الغالب</span>, -<span class="trans">assad allah al-ghaleb</span>, “the lion of God, the victorious.” -Possessed of great learning, he composed several celebrated works in -prose and in verse, although he had to sustain a continual struggle with -the adverse party. He was assassinated in Kufa, in the year 40 of the -Hejira, 660 A. D. After him, his sons Hassan and Hossain (see note 3, -<abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 47-48) fell victims to Moavia, a relation of Osman, and the mortal enemy -of the whole race of Ali. The contest between these two parties was, -after the death of their chiefs, carried on by their numerous adherents, -and, connected as it is with some difference in their religious opinions -and rites, continues to our days. Ali is acknowledged the head of the -شيعة, <span class="trans">Shiâts</span>, which word means in general “a troop, a party,” but is -particularly applied to those who believe that the <span class="title">Imamat</span>, or the supreme -dignity over the Muselmans, belongs by right to Alí and his descendants, -who call themselves <span class="title">Aladiliats</span>, or “the party of the just.” Opposed to -them are the <span class="title">Sonnites</span>, so called from the Arabic word <span class="trans">sonnat</span>, which -signifies “precept, rule,” or the orthodox faith of Muselmans, comprehending -the traditional laws relative to whatever has not been written -by the great legislator (see Herbelot, <span class="decoration">sub voc.</span>).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_324" id="footnote_324"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_324"><span class="muchsmaller">[324]</span></a> - Zu-l-Ulum, “master of sciences,” was a title of Kaiván.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_325" id="footnote_325"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_325"><span class="muchsmaller">[325]</span></a> - Nushirvan, called by the Arabs <span class="title">Kesra</span>, by the Persians <span class="title">Khosru</span>, is -reckoned by some authors the 19th (by others the 20th) Persian king of -the Sassáníán dynasty, which, according to different opinions, was composed -of 31, 30, or 29 princes, and lasted 527, 500, or 431 years. -Nushirvan reigned from 531 to 579 after J. C. He was called “the -just:” from the outside of his palace to his room was drawn a chain, -by the motion of which he could have notice of any complainant who -wanted redress. He was victorious in the east and west of Asia; he -destroyed the prophet <span class="person">Mazdak</span> (of whom see hereafter, section <abbr title="Fifteen">XV</abbr>); he -brought from India to Persia the fables of <span class="title">Pilpay</span>, called <dfn>Anvarí Sohíli</dfn>, -“the Canopian lights,” and a game similar to chess. During his reign -Mohammed was born. Nushirvan’s favorite minister, <span class="person">Buzerg-Mihr</span>, -called also <span class="person">Buzer-Jmihr</span>, was famous for virtue and wisdom; about -both these personages a great number of marvellous and fabulous accounts -forms the matter of favorite poems in the East.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_326" id="footnote_326"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_326"><span class="muchsmaller">[326]</span></a> - Ardeshir Babegan was the first king, and founder of the <abbr title="Fourth">IVth</abbr> dynasty -of Persian kings, called the <span class="title">Sasssáníáns</span>, or the <span class="title">Khosroes</span>. His father -was <span class="person">Sassan</span>, a descendant of another <span class="person">Sassan</span>, -the son of <span class="person">Bahman Isfendiar</span>, -the 6th king of the <abbr title="Second">IId</abbr> Persian dynasty, called the <span class="title">Kayánian</span>. -The latter Sassan was reduced to a low station, having become the shepherd -of <span class="person">Babek</span>, a wealthy man, whose daughter he married;—he had by -her a son named Ardeshir, who took the name of his maternal grandfather -(which is to be noted as an Indian custom): hence he was called -<span class="person">Babegan</span>. He is identified with the Artaxerxes of the Greeks, a contemporary -of the Roman emperor Commodus (A. D. 180-193). The epoch -of his reign is one of the most uncertain points of Persian history. It may -be fixed from the year 200 to 240 of the Christian era.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_327" id="footnote_327"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_327"><span class="muchsmaller">[327]</span></a> - The 5th Sassan, above mentioned, is said to be the last of fifteen Persian -prophets, the first of whom was Mahábad, and the 13th Zoroaster. The -fifth Sassan lived in the time of Khosru Parviz, who reigned, the 21st or -22nd king of the Sassáníáns, from 591 to 628 of the Christian era. We -read in the Persian preface of the Desatir, that five years after the death of -Khosru Parviz (that is in the year 634), the Persian empire being shaken -by the conquests of the Arabs, the fifth Sassan translated the Desatir. The -English preface of the same work states, that “he died only nine years -before the destruction of the ancient Persian monarchy,” or nine years -before 652, which would be in the year 643 of our era. It appears from -the Desatir (English <abbr title="translation page">transl. p.</abbr> 192), that the fifth Sassan, not less than his -father, the fourth Sassan, was attached to the king Parviz, of whom he -says (ibid. <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 202): “From the wickedness of mankind did it arise that -such an angel-tempered king was taken from the Hirtasis (Persia).”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_328" id="footnote_328"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_328"><span class="muchsmaller">[328]</span></a> - Bahrám Gur (Varanes <abbr title="Five">V</abbr>), the son of Yezdejird <dfn>badkar</dfn> (the iniquitous), -was educated out of Persia. After the death of his father, the -throne having been given to Kisra, a stranger, Bahram came to dispute the -crown, which he proposed should be placed between two famished lions, -and belong to him who should seize it there. Kisra accepted the proposal, -but would not attempt the first to snatch what he already possessed. -Bahram then, after having killed the fierce animals, took and kept the -prize with universal applause. He was the 13th (or 14th) king of the -Sássáníans. After having repulsed an invasion of the Turks, and secured -his empire, he left Persia, and travelled in disguise to India in search of -adventures; by a series of daring actions, he gained a great reputation, -and the hand of an Indian princess, with whom, after two years of absence, -he returned to Persia. Fortunate in war against Greeks and Arabians, -he lost his life in a hunting party, after a reign of 23 (some say -18) years, which is placed from 420 to 438 of our era.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_329" id="footnote_329"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_329"><span class="muchsmaller">[329]</span></a> - This passage is very obscure—the occurrences here mentioned must -have been local.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_330" id="footnote_330"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_330"><span class="muchsmaller">[330]</span></a> - Akbar Abad (Akbar’s town) was Agra.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_331" id="footnote_331"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_331"><span class="muchsmaller">[331]</span></a> - Sadah is the name of the 16th night of the Persian month Bahman -(the 11th of the year, January). This night is solemnized by fires lighted -in towns and in the fields (Herbelot).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_332" id="footnote_332"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_332"><span class="muchsmaller">[332]</span></a> - Jamasp, a great priest of the religion of Zoroaster, and supposed author -of a Persian work upon the great conjunctions of the planets, and upon -the events which they produce. This work was translated into Arabic -by Lalí, in the year 1280 of our era. According to the Shah-namah and -to some historians, Jamasp was the brother of Gustasp, the Vth Persian -king of the Péshdadían dynasty (Herbelot). In the book Múgjizat Farsi -(see Hyde, Prefatio), Jamasp is the <abbr title="Sixth">VIth</abbr> of ten Persian prophets, who are -enumerated as follows: <abbr title="One">I.</abbr> Feridun; <abbr title="Two">II.</abbr> -Alexander; <abbr title="Three">III.</abbr> Anushirvan; -<abbr title="Four">IV.</abbr> Baheramgor; <abbr title="Five">V.</abbr> Rustam; -<abbr title="Six">VI.</abbr> Jamasp; <abbr title="Seven">VII.</abbr> Buzurgjmihr; <abbr title="Eight">VIII.</abbr> -Barbud; <abbr title="nine">IX.</abbr> an anonymous sculptor of the beautiful horse Shabdiz, -which had belonged to king Parviz; <abbr title="Ten">X.</abbr> Ferhad, a celebrated architect, -enamoured of Shírín, the wife of Parviz.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_333" id="footnote_333"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_333"><span class="muchsmaller">[333]</span></a> - The Lulees in Persia and in other parts of Asia are women of the -same description as the dancing girls in India, devoted to pleasure, and -exercising their art of pleasing at all festivals, public and private.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_334" id="footnote_334"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_334"><span class="muchsmaller">[334]</span></a> - These verses of Hafiz, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 56, <abbr title="edition">edit.</abbr> -of Calcutta, are again quoted, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 6, -of the same <abbr title="edition">edit.</abbr>; but instead of -<span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">ازپی جانام</span>; which occur in the -first of these pages, we find in the last <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">درپی جانام</span>; -which last reading -was adopted.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_335" id="footnote_335"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_335"><span class="muchsmaller">[335]</span></a> - <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">چمچمہ</span> <span class="trans">chamchamah</span>, -“a skull,” answers to <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">कपाल </span> <span class="trans">kapála</span>, -which signifies skull, and a skull-like bowl, in which beggars receive -alms.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_336" id="footnote_336"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_336"><span class="muchsmaller">[336]</span></a> - <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">कपाल आसन</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_337" id="footnote_337"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_337"><span class="muchsmaller">[337]</span></a> - These verses have been quoted before, <a href="#Page_119">page 119</a>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_338" id="footnote_338"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_338"><span class="muchsmaller">[338]</span></a> - Mahdí, “guide,” in the original is perhaps an allusion to the name -of the twelfth and last Imam of the race of Alí. The Persians believe that -he is still living, and will appear with the prophet Elias at the second -coming of Jesus Christ, and will be one of the two witnesses mentioned -in the Apocalypse (Herbelot).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_339" id="footnote_339"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_339"><span class="muchsmaller">[339]</span></a> - The printed copy reads <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">داد ستان اورسه</span>, - and the manuscripts -<span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">داد ستان داورشه</span> and <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">داد ستان داورسه</span>, - the <abbr title="manuscript">MS.</abbr> of Oude has -<span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">داد ستان سُه داور</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_340" id="footnote_340"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_340"><span class="muchsmaller">[340]</span></a> - The printed copy reads <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">درپای جان</span>, - the <abbr title="manuscripts">MSS.</abbr>, with that of -Oude, have <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">درپای ما جان</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_341" id="footnote_341"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_341"><span class="muchsmaller">[341]</span></a> - This corresponds to the Arabic: <span class="trans">la ila hah illilla</span>; - the first part of -which, <span class="trans">la ila hah</span>, “there is no God,” is called - <span class="trans">nafi</span>, “negation;” the -other part, <span class="trans">illi la</span>, “but God,” is called - <span class="trans">asbát</span>, “confirmation.” To -which is added: <cite>Mohammed resul ulla</cite>, “Muhammed is his - prophet.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_342" id="footnote_342"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_342"><span class="muchsmaller">[342]</span></a> - The two <abbr title="manuscripts">MSS.</abbr> read <span class="trans">Antun - pashutah dakardaj</span>; the <abbr title="manuscript">MS.</abbr> of Oude, <span class="trans">Anton -pashuyah</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_343" id="footnote_343"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_343"><span class="muchsmaller">[343]</span></a> - A Kalander is a person of religious pretensions, a sort of durvish -not generally approved by the Muhammedans—(<cite>Herbelot</cite>).</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_344" id="footnote_344"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_344"><span class="muchsmaller">[344]</span></a> - Perhaps <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">सहस्</span> <span class="trans">sahas</span>, - “strength, power, light.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_345" id="footnote_345"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_345"><span class="muchsmaller">[345]</span></a> - Perhaps <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">सकुल</span> <span class="trans">sakula</span>, - “having a family.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_346" id="footnote_346"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_346"><span class="muchsmaller">[346]</span></a> - <dfn>Amir</dfn> signifies “commander, chief, prince.” This title was once borne -by sovereigns, but in the course of time was changed for that of Sultan, it -remained a title given only to princes, their sons. <span class="title">Amir ul Omra</span> signifies -“the commander of commanders” (<cite>Herbelot</cite>).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_347" id="footnote_347"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_347"><span class="muchsmaller">[347]</span></a> - The Persians pretend to have (see my note, <a href="#Javedan"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 32</a>, - and Hyde, <cite>Prefatio</cite>) -a book more ancient than the writings of Zoroaster, called <span class="title">Jávídán -Khirid</span>, “the eternal wisdom,” which treats of practical philosophy, -and the author of which is supposed to have been Húshang.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_348" id="footnote_348"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_348"><span class="muchsmaller">[348]</span></a> - Khosro Parviz was the grandson of Nushirvan, mentioned in our -<a href="#footnote_327">note, page 105</a>, as contemporary of the fifth Sasan, the translator and commentator -of the Desatir. Parviz, soon after having taken possession of -his father’s throne, was driven out of Persia by a fortunate usurper, called -<span class="person">Bahram Ju´bín</span>, and took refuge in the court of the Greek emperor -Mauritius, from whom he obtained not only protection, but also the hand -of his daughter named <span class="person">Mary</span> by some, and by others Shírin, and a powerful -army to recover the kingdom of Persia. According to <span class="person">Eben Batrik</span> -(see <cite>Herbelot</cite>), it was after having been restored to his sovereignty, that -he sued for marriage with the daughter of Mauritius, who answered that -he could not grant his daughter, unless the Persian monarch adopted the -Christian faith. The verses in the text seem to refer to this circumstance, -but express at the same time a strong attachment of Parviz to the ancient -religion of his country, whilst, according to the Arabian author just quoted, -this prince apostatised, in spite of his opposing grandees, for the sake of -the beautiful Shirín, for whom he had conceived an irresistible passion. -Mauritius, his father-in-law, having been put to death, with all his children -except one son, Parviz endeavoured to replace this remaining son -upon the throne of his father. At first successful against Phocas, he was -defeated by Heraclius, the successor of the Greek emperor; he lost all his -conquests, his reputation, his liberty, and at last his life, by a parricide, -his son and successor, Shiruyah or Sirocs.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_349" id="footnote_349"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_349"><span class="muchsmaller">[349]</span></a> - Ajem includes all Asia except Arabia. The Arabians, as formerly the -Greeks, call the inhabitants of all countries except their own, Barbarians; -but here, and elsewhere, the author takes Ajem for Persia.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 147</span> -<h3 class="p4 h3head"> -SECTION <abbr title="Three">III.</abbr></h3> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">The third section of the Dabistan</span> explains the -laws of the Paímán-i-Farhang (excellent covenant) -and the Hirbed Sár (the pure Highpriest).</p> - -<p>The <span class="title">Paiman-i-Farhang</span> is the code of Máhábád, -of which many translations have been made; one of -them is that made by <span class="person">Faridun</span>, the son of <span class="person">Abtin</span>: -another; that of <span class="person">Buzurg-Mihr</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_350" id="fnanchor_350"></a><a href="#footnote_350" class="fnanchor">[350]</a></span> -for the use of <span class="person">Nushirvan</span>, -the son of <span class="person">Kobad</span>; some extracts from these -have been given in the present work. The <span class="title">Yazdanian</span>, -“godly,” who are also called <dfn>Sahi Kesh</dfn>, -“flourishing faith,” and <dfn>Sipásî</dfn>, “adorers,” maintain -that the most exalted of the prophets, the mightiest -of kings, and the sire of the human race which -exists in this cycle was <span class="title">Máhábád</span>, whom they also -call <dfn>Azar Hushang</dfn>, “the fire of wisdom.” They -also say that it is thus recorded in the code of this -venerable personage, which is the word of God; -and that moreover, this mighty prince has himself -expressly announced that the Divine Essence, which -has no equal, is totally devoid and divested of all -form and figure; incapable of being the object of -<a name="Page_148" id="Page_148"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 148</span> -conception or similitude: also that the tropes of the -most eloquent orators, the illustrations of the most -enlightened and profound geniuses, are utterly -unable to convey a clear idea of the light, which -has neither perceptible color nor sign: the sublime -speculations of the learned and the discriminating -understandings of the sage are too feeble to comprehend -the substance of the pure essence of that light, -which is without equal, quality, color, or model: -also that all existences have proceeded from the -bounty and wisdom of the Almighty, and are consequently -his creation: that not a single atom in this -world, nor even the motion of a hair on the body of -a living creature escapes his knowledge: all which -propositions are proved by evident demonstrations -deduced from various premises, and accompanied -by excellent commentaries, the enumeration of which -this abridged treatise cannot admit. Also that the -cognizance of the self-existent God extends alike to -the most minute particles of matter and the entire -universe.</p> - -<p><span class="sc">Description of the great Angels of the first -order.</span>—In the code of the great apostle Máhábád it -is thus stated; the work of God is above the power -of the tongue, and infinitely exceeds the calculations -to which the inhabitants of this lower elemental -world have recourse: the operations of the Eternal -are from eternity to eternity: they assign the name -<a name="Page_149" id="Page_149"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 149</span> -of <span class="title">Bahman</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_351" id="fnanchor_351"></a><a href="#footnote_351" class="fnanchor">[351]</a></span> -to the first Angel whom the Almighty -invested with the mantle of existence, and through -the medium of whom it was communicated to others. -The planets, fixed stars, and heavens have each their -peculiar conservative Angel; also the four elements -below the lunar sphere have four conservative -Angels, and in like manner all productions connected -with them: for example, in minerals there are many -precious stones, such as rubies, sapphires, and emeralds -of every kind, which are under the dominion -of their good, munificent, protecting Angel: and so -on with respect to all species of vegetable and animal -productions. The name given to the conservative -angel of mankind is <span class="title">Farun Faro -Vakhshúr</span>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_352" id="fnanchor_352"></a><a href="#footnote_352" class="fnanchor">[352]</a></span></p> - -<p><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 150</span> -<span class="sc">Description of the second order of Angels.</span>—The -code of Máhábád states that the second rank is assigned -to the Angels connected with bodies: that -is, every heaven and every star has a simple uncompounded -spirit, bare of matter, as it is neither a -body nor material: also that all living beings in the -world have an uncompounded soul.</p> - -<p><span class="sc">Description of the third order of Angels.</span>—It is -stated in the code of Máhábád, that angelic beings of -the third rank are the same as the superior and -inferior bodies. The superior bodies are those of -the sphere and the stars; and the inferior the four -(<span class="title">guhar</span>) elements. The most noble of all bodies are -those of the sphere.</p> - -<p><span class="sc">Description of the gradations of Paradise.</span>—The -code of Máhábád states thus: “In the <dfn>Mînú</dfn> or -‘azure heaven’ there are many gradations, we -shall first enumerate the gradations of Paradise -in this lower world. The first gradation consists -of minerals, such as rubies, sapphires, emeralds, -and the like; the second of vegetation, such as -plane trees, cypress, gardens, etc.; the third of -animals, such as the Arab horse, the camel, and -such like; the fourth consisting of selected individuals -amongst men, such as princes and those -connected with that class, persons in the enjoyment -<a name="Page_151" id="Page_151"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 151</span> -of health, the contented, and such like; all -which gradations they call <dfn>Mînú Sár</dfn>, ‘celestial -abode,’ and <dfn>Bîst Lád</dfn>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_353" id="fnanchor_353"></a><a href="#footnote_353" class="fnanchor">[353]</a></span> -that is, <dfn>Feróden feró</dfn>, ‘the -low foundation.’” In these states there is a -retrospect; for example, there is one man who in -relation to his deeds gradually descends to the animal -state; whilst the terrene particles of virtuous -men’s bodies change either to the vegetable state or -that of the choicest minerals, however without the -existence of an incorporeal soul in either of them. -On ascending from this state, the change is called -<dfn>Lim Sar</dfn>, or “dwelling on high;” the first is the -lunar step; for in the soul of the exalted moon are -the forms of all those beings into which the elements -enter. A person on arriving there remains in it, -becoming the regent of all the lower world, and in -proportion to his knowledge and the habits resulting -from his laudable qualities, assumes a better form. -On arriving at a higher rank than this, he finds augmented -delight as far as the solar step; for the sun -is the <dfn>Pirah-i-Yazdan</dfn>, or “the ornament of God,” -that is, the viceroy of the Lord and sovereign of the -stars, whose gracious influence pervades both high -and low. On leaving this and passing through the -various gradations to the empyreal heaven, every -step becomes more delightful and excellent. On -<a name="Page_152" id="Page_152"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 152</span> -ascending beyond the great sphere, he arrives at the -curtain<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_354" id="fnanchor_354"></a><a href="#footnote_354" class="fnanchor">[354]</a></span> -of the great Angels and contemplates the -Lord of the light of lights surrounded by angels: no -state can surpass the beatitude and glory of this -gradation, which is called the <dfn>Mînúiván Mînú</dfn>, or -“heaven of heavens.”</p> - -<p><span class="sc">Description of the infernal regions.</span>—The code -of Máhábád states thus: Hell is situated under the -sphere of <em>the moon</em>:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_355" id="fnanchor_355"></a><a href="#footnote_355" class="fnanchor">[355]</a></span> -the first step consisting of -minerals in mis-shapen masses, or stones without -worth; of plants, thorny and vile and poisonous -herbage; of living creatures, such as ants, serpents, -and scorpions; and of men labouring under indigence, -sickness, feebleness, ignorance, and disgrace: -in this step man is punished for whatever evil actions -he has committed, and escapes not without due retribution. -However, the severest gradation of the infernal -regions is that of mental anguish, which is appropriated -to the irreligious philosophers, for when -his elemental body is dissolved, they do not assign -him another; so that he finds not his way to heaven, -but remains in the lower elemental world, consumed -by the flames of anguish: besides, in consequence -of his detestable qualities, his tormentors pounce -<a name="Page_153" id="Page_153"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 153</span> -upon him in the shape of serpents, scorpions, and -other such plagues. This state they denominate -<dfn>Puchán-i-Púch</dfn>, or “the hell of hells.”</p> - -<p>The code of Máhábád also states, that whatever -occurs in this elemental world proceeds entirely -from the planets; so that their adoration, next to -that of the Almighty, becomes an indispensable -duty: for these luminaries approach near the palace -of the Almighty, and the chiefs of the court of eternity. -In this world, whoever draws near the seat -of grandeur, must have a friend to sound his praise, -which is a measure much to be commended. The -person who undertakes a journey cannot do without -a guide, and he who goes to a city where he has no -friend, meets with difficulty: consequently, the worship -tendered to these dignities is much to be commended. -The stars are truly many in number, -but amidst these multitudes, the influences of the -seven planets are the most evident: also of all the -starry hosts the sun is the sovereign lord. It is -therefore necessary to form seven images, and to -raise that of the sun above the others; the temples -built by the Abadîán princes were open on all sides, -so that when the sun shone they were exceedingly -bright in the interior; not like the Hindoo idol-temples, -in which they walk about with lamps, even in -the day time: the roofs of the Abadîán temples were -also rather elevated. The emperors and princes are -<a name="Page_154" id="Page_154"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 154</span> -individuals of the most select description, on which -account the king should find repose in the fourth -sphere, which is one of the solar regions. As it is -evident that the stars are set by God for the due government -of the world, in like manner it is clear that -it is not every individual indiscriminately who attains -to the regal dignity, but only a royal personage, -not opposed to the <dfn>Farhang-Abád</dfn>, or the law of <span class="title">Azar -Húshang</span>: as otherwise he would be undeserving of -the supreme power. Of the qualifications indispensably -requisite in a monarch, the first is conformity -to the faith above described, and firmness in adhering -to it. In the next place, if on the side of both -parents, which means <dfn>Hasab va Nasab</dfn>, “accomplishments -and genealogy,” he were of royal descent, -it would be more advantageous: the meaning of royal -birth is to be the possessor of the kingdom of justice; -if every external qualification be united with the -supreme power, it is much more agreeable, so that -the king should not say, “I am more excellent than -my father, and he than his ancestors:” on the -contrary, he styles his father “highly distinguished,” -and his grandfather “far superior.” Moreover, if -any one should praise him on this account, he should -order that person to be chastised. <span class="person">Azizi</span>, “a distinguished -man,”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_356" id="fnanchor_356"></a><a href="#footnote_356" class="fnanchor">[356]</a></span> -has said: “The following is what -<a name="Page_155" id="Page_155"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 155</span> -we mean by this principle; that as one sire is -superior to another, if a son should imagine himself -the greater, then each child would reckon -himself superior to his father, and there would -then be no acknowledged ruler.”</p> - -<p>A king must also be provided with a distinguished -mathematician as prime minister, to whom -the calculators and astronomers should be subject; -in every city there should be an astronomer -or surveyor; and an -<dfn>Arshiya</dfn>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_357" id="fnanchor_357"></a><a href="#footnote_357" class="fnanchor">[357]</a></span> -or accountant, should -act as vizir, one well versed in the amount of rents -paid by the Rayas; he must also have commissaries; -and as there are attached to every city many -villages and hamlets, the king’s private property, -to which the local director attends, that officer is -called the <span class="title">Vizhak</span>. Also with every vizir, whether -absent or present, there should be two <dfn>Ustuwars</dfn> or -supervisors, and two <dfn>Shudahbands</dfn>, or recorders of -occurrences; the same rule is to be observed with -all administrators, and the <dfn>Samán Sálár</dfn>, or head -steward, the chief reporters and inspectors should -also be each accompanied by two Ustuwars and -two Shudahbands. <dfn>Dustoor</dfn>, or prime minister, -means the person to whose department the public -revenue is attached: the copies of the registers of -all the vizirs should be regularly kept at the seat -<a name="Page_156" id="Page_156"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 156</span> -of government, as well as the papers of the Shudahbands.</p> - -<p>The king also requires military commanders, in -order that they may keep the soldiers in due discipline. -The first dignity consists of the chiefs of a -hundred thousand cavalry; the second, of the commanders -of thousands; the third, of the commanders -of hundreds; the fourth, of the rulers over tens; -and the fifth, of those accompanied by two, three, -four, or five persons. Thus in this assemblage every -ten persons have an officer and every hundred a -Sipahdar, called in the popular language of Hindustan -<span class="trans">Bakhshi</span>, “pay-master,” in that of Iran, <span class="trans">Lashkar -Navîs</span>, or “army-registrar,” and in Arabic, <span class="trans">Ariz</span>, -or “notary:” a similar arrangement must be observed -in the infantry. In like manner, when the -military in regular succession are in attendance on -the king, there is at court a <dfn>Bárnîgárî</dfn>, or “registrar,” -to set down those who are absent as well -as those present; in the popular language of India -this officer is styled <dfn>Chauki Navîs</dfn>, or “register -keeper;” they are accompanied by a <dfn>Shudahband</dfn>, -an <dfn>Ustuwar</dfn>, and sentinels, so that they may not go -to their homes nor give way to sleep until their -period of duty is terminated: there are also different -sentinels for day and night. It is also so arranged -that there should be always four persons together -on each watch, two of whom may indulge in sleep -<a name="Page_157" id="Page_157"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 157</span> -whilst the other two remain awake. In every city -where the king is present there ought to be a <span class="title">Shudahband</span>, -to report to the king whatever occurs in -the city: the same rule should be observed in the -other cities also: this functionary they call, in India, -<dfn>Wakia-Navis</dfn>, “news-writer.” There should also -be a <dfn>Shahnah</dfn>, or “intendant of police,” styled <dfn>Farhang-i-roz</dfn>, -“registrar of the day,” who is to conduct -all affairs with due prudence, and not suffer -people to inflict injury on each other. He is to have -two <span class="title">Shudahbands</span> and an <dfn>Ustuwar</dfn> or “confidential -secretary.” In like manner, among the troops of -the great nobles there must be two <span class="title">Shudahbands</span>; -and in all provinces a <dfn>Shahrdar</dfn>, or governor; and -in every city a <dfn>Bud-andoz</dfn>, or collector-general, a -<dfn>Sipah-dar</dfn>, that is a Bakhshi, and an intendant of -police, or <dfn>Shahnah</dfn>; it is to be noted that among the -Yezdánían, a <span class="title">Kázî</span> and <span class="title">Shuhnah</span> -were the same, as the -people practised no oppression towards each other. -The <span class="title">Shudahband</span>, the <span class="title">Návand</span> -(writer), and the <span class="title">Rávand</span> -(courier), or those who conveyed intelligence to -the king, had many spies set over them secretly by -his majesty, and all those officers wrote him an -account of whatever occurred in the city. If the -<span class="title">Sipahdars</span> did not give the men their just dues, -these officers called them to account: also if a -superior noble acted in a similar manner towards -his inferiors, they instituted an inquiry into his -<a name="Page_158" id="Page_158"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 158</span> -conduct: they also took note of the spies; so -that if any secret agent made himself known as -such, he was immediately dismissed. If any one -kept the due of the soldier or of the cultivator, in -the name of the king, and did not account for it, -they inflicted chastisement on him. The officers -were obliged to delineate the features of every one -employed in the cavalry or infantry, and also to furnish -a representation of his horse, and to give the -men their regular pay with punctuality. Previous -to the Gilsháhian dynasty, no one ever branded the -king’s horses, as this was regarded as an act of -cruelty towards the animal: most of the soldiers -also were furnished with horses by the king, as the -sovereigns of Ajem had many studs. On the death -of a horse, the testimony of the collectors and inspectors -was requisite. Every soldier who received not -a horse from the king, brought his own with him: -they also took one out of twenty from the Rayas. -However, under the Sassanian princes, the Rayas -requested “to take from them one out of ten:” and -as this proposition was accepted, it was therefore -called <dfn>Baj-i-hamdastani</dfn>, or voluntary contribution, -as having been settled by the consent of the Rayas.</p> - -<p>The Omras and the great of the kingdom, near -and far, had not the power to put a guilty man to -death; but when the <dfn>Shadahband</dfn>, “recorder,” -brought a case before the king, his majesty acted -<a name="Page_159" id="Page_159"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 159</span> -according to the prescriptions of the <span class="title">Ferhang-abad</span>, -unless in the case of executing a dangerous rebel, -when, from sparing him until receiving the king’s -will, a great evil would arise to the country.</p> - -<p>They laid down this royal ordinance: that if the -king sent even a single person, he was to bring back -the head of the commander of a hundred thousand; -nay, that person never turned aside from the punishment. -For example, when such a commander -in the time of Shah <span class="person">Máhbúl</span> had put an innocent man -to death, the prince sent a person who was to behead -the criminal on a day on which the nobles were -all assembled: and of this there are innumerable -examples. Also in the time of Shah <span class="person">Faridún</span>, the -son of <span class="person">Abtin</span>, the son of <span class="person">Farshad</span>, -the son of <span class="person">Shá-î -Gilîv</span>, a general named <span class="person">Máhlád</span> was governor of -<span class="place">Khorosan</span>: and he having put to death one of the -village chiefs, the Shudahbands reported to the king -all the public and private details of the fact, on -receiving which the king thus wrote to Máhlád: -“Thou hast acted contrary to the Farhang Abad.” -When Mahlád had perused the king’s letter, he -assembled the chief men of the province, and sending -for the village chieftain’s son, put a sword in his -hand that he might cut off his head: the son replied: -“I consent to pass over my father’s blood.” -Máhlád, however, would not agree to this, and insisted -so earnestly, that the young man cut off his -<a name="Page_160" id="Page_160"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 160</span> -head, which was sent to the court. The king greatly -commended this conduct, and according to his usual -practice conferred Máhlád’s office on his son. In -the same manner, the Moghúls submitted implicitly -to the commands of the Lord strengthened by the -Almighty, that is, to <span class="person">Jenghiz -Khan</span>;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_358" id="fnanchor_358"></a><a href="#footnote_358" class="fnanchor">[358]</a></span> -and the tribes -of <span class="place">Kazl-Básh</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_359" id="fnanchor_359"></a><a href="#footnote_359" class="fnanchor">[359]</a></span> -were equally obedient to <span class="person">Ismail Safavi</span> -during his reign. But the kings of Ajem were averse -to the infliction of capital punishments, so that until -a criminal had been declared deserving of death, -according to the Abádían code, the order for his -execution was not issued.</p> - -<p>The kings and chieftains of Iran never addressed -harsh language to any one; but whenever a person -deserved chastisement or death, they summoned the -<dfn>Farhangdar</dfn>, or “judge,” and the <dfn>Dad-sitani</dfn>, or -“mufti;” on which, whatever the code of <span class="title">Farhang-abad</span> -enjoined in the case, whether beating with -rods or confinement, was carried into effect: but -the beating and imprisonment were never executed -<a name="Page_161" id="Page_161"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 161</span> -by low persons. Whatever intelligence was communicated -by spies was submitted to a careful examination, -in which they took great pains; and that -unless reports made by two or more spies coincided, -they carried nothing into execution. The princes -and young nobles, like all others, began by personal -attendance on the king: for example, the routine of -<dfn>Hash-o-bash</dfn>, or “presence and absence” at court, -was enjoined them in rotation, that they might better -understand the state of humbler individuals: they -even attended on foot, that they might more easily -conceive the toils of the foot-soldier.</p> - -<p><span class="person">Bahzad</span> the Yasanian, in one of his marches having -proceeded a short distance, alighted from his -horse,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_360" id="fnanchor_360"></a><a href="#footnote_360" class="fnanchor">[360]</a></span> -on which a distinguished noble, named <span class="person">Naubar</span>, thus -remarked: “On a march it is not proper to remain -satisfied with so short a journey.” On this, <span class="person">Bahzad</span> -Shah, leaving the army in that place, said to the -commander <span class="person">Naubar</span>, “Let us two make a short -excursion.” He himself mounted on horseback, -and obliged the other to advance on foot. They -thus traversed mountain and plain, until <span class="person">Naubar</span> -became overpowered by fatigue, on which <span class="person">Bahzad</span> -said: “Exert thyself, for our halting place is near;” -but he having replied, “I am no longer able to -move,” the king rejoined; “O oppressor! as -<a name="Page_162" id="Page_162"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 162</span> -thou art no longer able to proceed, dost thou not -perceive that those who are on foot experience -similar distress from performing too long a -march?”</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Thou, who feelest not for the distress of others,</div> - <div class="i0">Meritest not to be called by the name of man.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>The military, in proportion to their respective -ranks, had assigned to them costly dresses, vigorous -steeds with trappings and saddles inlaid with precious -stones, equipments, some of solid gold and silver, -and others plated with gold or silver, and helmets. -The distinguished men were equally remote -from parsimony and profuseness. The nobles of -Ajem wore a crown worth a hundred thousand -dinars of gold: the regal diadem being appropriated -to the king. All the great Amirs wore helmets and -zones of gold; they also had trappings and sandals -of the same. When the soldiers set out on an expedition, -they took with them arms of every description, -a flag and a poignard;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_361" id="fnanchor_361"></a><a href="#footnote_361" class="fnanchor">[361]</a></span> -they were habituated -to privations, and entered on long expeditions with -scanty supplies: they were never confined within -the enclosure of tents and pavilions, but braved alike -the extremes of heat and cold. In the day of battle, -as long as the king or his lieutenant stood at his -post, if any one turned his back on the foe, no person -<a name="Page_163" id="Page_163"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 163</span> -would join him in eating or drinking, or contract -alliance with him, except those who like himself -had consigned their persons to infamy and -degradation. Lunatics, buffoons, and depraved characters -found no access to the king or chieftains.</p> - -<p>On the death of a person who had been raised to -dignity, his post was conferred on his son, or some -one of his legitimate connections adequate to its duties; -thus no innocent person was ever deprived of -office, so that their noble families continued from -the time of <span class="person">Sháî Kilîv</span> to that of -<span class="person">Sháî Mahbul</span>. When -king <span class="person">Khusró</span>, the son of -<span class="person">Faridún</span>, the son of <span class="person">Abtin</span>, -the son of <span class="person">Forzad</span>, the son of -<span class="person">Shái Kiliv</span>, had sent -<span class="person">Gurgin</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_362" id="fnanchor_362"></a><a href="#footnote_362" class="fnanchor">[362]</a></span> -the son of <span class="person">Lás</span> to a certain post, that dignity -remained in his family more than a thousand -years; and when, in the reign of the resplendent -sovereign, king <span class="person">Ardeshir</span>, <span class="person">Madhur</span> the descendant of -Gurgin had become a lunatic, the king confined him -to his house, and promoted his son <span class="person">Mábzád</span> to the -government; and similar to this was the system of -Shah <span class="person">Ismail Safavi</span>. But if an Amir’s son were -unfit for governing, he was dismissed from office, -and had a suitable pension assigned him. Nay, animals, -<a name="Page_164" id="Page_164"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 164</span> -such as the cow, ass, and horse, which were -made to labor when young, were maintained by -their masters in a state of ease when they grew old; -the quantity of burden which each animal was to -carry was defined, and whoever exceeded that limit -received due chastisement. In like manner, when any -of the infantry or cavalry grew feeble, infirm, or old, -although he might not have performed effective service, -they appointed his son to succeed him; and if -the latter was not yet of mature age, they settled on -him a daily allowance from the royal treasury. But -if he had no son, they assigned him during his life -such an allowance as would keep him from distress, -which allowance was continued after his decease -to his wife, daughter, or other survivors. -Whatever constitutes the duty of a parent was all -performed by the king; if, in the day of battle, a -soldier’s horse fell, they bestowed on him a better -and finer one. It has already been said that most -of the cavalry horses were supplied by the king, -and the military were at no expense save that of -forage. If a soldier fell in battle, they appointed the -son with great distinction to his father’s post, and -also conferred many favors on his surviving family; -they also greatly exerted themselves in teaching -them the duties of their class, and in guarding their -domestic honor inviolate: as, in reality, the king is -the father, and the kingdom the common mother. -<a name="Page_165" id="Page_165"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 165</span> -In like manner, when a soldier was wounded, he -received the greatest attentions. Similar notice was -taken of workers in gold and of merchants who had -failed and become impoverished, their children being -adopted by the government: so that, within the -circuit of their dominions, there was not found a -single destitute person. The Sardár of each city -took cognizance of every stranger who entered it: -in the same way, all friendless travellers were received -into the royal hospital, where physicians gave -themselves up to the curing of the sick: in these -there were also Shudahbands to take care that none -of those employed should be backward in their respective -offices. The blind, the paralytic, the feeble, -and destitute were admitted into the royal hospital, -where they passed their time free from anxiety. -Now the royal <span class="title">Bîmárastán</span>, or hospital was a place -in which they gave a daily allowance to the feeble -and indigent: thus there were no religious mendicants -or beggars in their dominions; whoever wished, -embraced a Durvesh’s life and practised religious -austerities in a monastery, a place adapted for every -description of pious mortifications: a slothful person, -or one of ill repute, was not permitted to become -a Durvesh, lest he might do it for the purpose of -indulging in food and sleep: to such a character -they enjoined the religious exercises suitable to a -Durvesh, which, if he performed with zeal, it was -<a name="Page_166" id="Page_166"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 166</span> -all well; but, otherwise, he was obliged to follow -his inclinations in some other place.</p> - -<p>The king had also confidential courtiers, well -skilled in the histories of the righteous men of olden -time, which they recited to his majesty. There was -also an abundance of astrologers and physicians, so -that, both in the capital and in the provinces, one of -each, agreeably to the royal order, should attend on -every governor; and their number was such in every -city, that men might consult them on the favorable -and unfavorable moments for every undertaking.</p> - -<p>In every city was a royal hospital, in which were -stationed physicians appointed by the king; there -were separate hospitals for women, where they were -attended by skilful female physicians, so that the -hospitals for men and women were quite distinct. -In addition to all this, the king stands in need of -wise <dfn>Farhangs</dfn>, “judges,” well versed in the decisions -of law and the articles of faith, so that, aided -by the royal influence and power, they may restrain -men from evil deeds, and deliver the institutes of -Farhang, “the true faith,” to -them.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_363" id="fnanchor_363"></a><a href="#footnote_363" class="fnanchor">[363]</a></span> -The king -also requires writers to be always in his presence. -<a name="Page_167" id="Page_167"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 167</span> -A great Mobed must be acquainted with all sciences; -a confidential courtier, conversant with the narratives -and histories of kings; a physician, profound in -medical science; an astrologer in his calculations of -the stars; an accountant, accurate in his accounts; -and a <dfn>Farhangí</dfn>, or lawyer, well versed in points of -law: moreover, the study of that portion of the -code contained in the <span class="title">Páiman-i-Farhang</span>, or in the -“covenant of the Farhang,” is incumbent on all, -both soldiers, Rayas, and those who practise the mechanic -arts, and on other people. In like manner, -persons of one rank were not wont to intermeddle -with the pursuits of another: for example, that a -soldier should engage in commerce, or a merchant -in the military profession: on the contrary, the two -employments should not be confounded, so that one -should at the same time be a military man and a -servant, or in any employment; and having become -a commander, should again take up the trade.</p> - -<p>They also permitted in every city such a number -of artificers, conductors of amusements, merchants, -and soldiers as was strictly necessary; to the remainder, -or surplus, they assigned agricultural occupations; -so that, although many people may know -these arts, yet no more than is required may be occupied -with them, but apply themselves wholly to the -cultivation of the soil. If any officer made even a -trifling addition to the import on any business which -<a name="Page_168" id="Page_168"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 168</span> -brought in a revenue to the king, so far from its -being acceptable, they, on the contrary, ordered that -ill-disposed person to be severely punished.</p> - -<p>The king gave audience every day: but on one -day of the week in particular, he acted as <dfn>Dádsitán</dfn>, -or “Mufti,” when every person who was wronged -had access to the sovereign; also, once a year, he -gave a general audience, when everyone who pleased -came into his presence; on this occasion, the king -sat down at table with the Ráyás, who represented -to him, without the intervention of another, whatever -they thought proper.</p> - -<p>The sovereign had two places of audience; one -the <dfn>Rózistán</dfn>, or “day-station,” in which he was -seated on an elevated seat; which place they also -called the <dfn>Tábsár</dfn>, or “place of splendor;” around -which the nobles and champions stood in their -respective ranks; the other was the <dfn>Shabistán</dfn>, or -“night station,” which had also an elevation, on -which the king took his seat. Men of distinction -stood on the outside; those of royal dignity were at -the door; and next the king was a company standing -with weapons of war in their hands. Every one, -indiscriminately, had not the privilege of laying his -hand on the royal feet; some only kissed the slipper -and walked around it; others, the sleeve of the royal -mantle which fell on the throne: that person must -be in high favor at court who was permitted to kiss -<a name="Page_169" id="Page_169"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 169</span> -the king’s feet, or the throne, or perform a circuit -around it.</p> - -<p>As a brief account has been given of the exterior -place of reception, and of the <dfn>Rózistán</dfn>, or “day -station,” we now proceed to write a few particulars -concerning the interior place of reception, or -the secret night station, or the <dfn>Harem</dfn>, which is also -called the “golden musk-perfumed pavilion.” In -the code of <span class="title">Azar Húshang</span>, -or <span class="title">Máhábád</span>, it has been -thus laid down: whatever be the number of the -king’s women, there must be one superior in dignity -to all the rest: her they style “the Great Lady;” -but she possessed not such absolute power that the -right of loosing or binding, inflicting the bastinado, -or putting to death within the night station should -be conferred on her: or that she could put to death -whomsoever she pleased without the king’s consent, -a power quite opposed to law.</p> - -<p>The <span class="title">Shudahbands</span> also report to the royal presence -all the transactions of the Great Princess and of the -night station, just as they transmit accounts of those -persons who live out of its precincts. If the king’s -mother be alive, the supremacy is of course vested -in her, and not in the Great Princess. <dfn>Salárbárs</dfn>, -or “ushers with silver maces,” <dfn>Jádárs</dfn>, or “superintendants -of police,” <dfn>Gáhnumás</dfn> or <dfn>Shudahbands</dfn>, -astrologers and such like professions, were also -met with in the interior residence.</p> - -<p><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 170</span> -Of these women and princesses not one had the -smallest degree of authority over the rest of their -sex who lived outside of the precincts, nor did they -possess the power of issuing any order whatever; nay -they seldom made mention of them in the royal <span class="title">Rozistan</span>; -neither were they called by any fixed title; nor, -without urgent necessity, did they ride out in public.</p> - -<p>The king also, on visiting the interior apartment, -is not wont to remain long with the women; nor -do they ever entertain any wishes which have not -reference to themselves; such as the mode of speaking -when enjoining an officer to perform some service, -or increasing the dignity of the great warriors. -The same system was followed by every Amir in his -own house; but in the dwelling of every Amir, whether -near or remote, there was an aged matron or -<dfn>Atuni</dfn>, deputed on the king’s part, with the office of -Shudahband, to report the exact state of affairs to -the Great Princess, or to send from a distance a -written report for being brought before the king.</p> - -<p>To the king’s Harem, or to that of an Amir, no -males had access, except boys not come to maturity, -or eunuchs; but criminals only were qualified -for the latter class, who were never after admitted -to any confidential intimacy; and no individual in -their empire was allowed from motives of gain to -have recourse to that operation.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_364" id="fnanchor_364"></a><a href="#footnote_364" class="fnanchor">[364]</a></span></p> - -<p><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 171</span> -Every year, on certain occasions, on some great -festivals, the wives of the Amirs waited on the Great -Princess, and the women of the city came to the -general levee; but the king never saw these women, -as on such days he did not enter the musk-perfumed -pavilion, but departed to some other place, so that -his eyes might not fall on a strange female. The -motives of the ladies’ visit to the king was this: -that if any were oppressed by their husbands, it -might be reported to the king, who after proper -investigation was to enjoin the punishment awarded -by the court of justice.</p> - -<p>The great king partook not of reason-subduing -strong drinks, as he was a guardian, and as -such should not be in a state of helplessness; on -which account not one of those kings who were -styled guardians ever polluted his lips with wine or -other intoxicating beverage before the Gilshaiyan -dynasty. The cup-bearers of the king’s sons and -other nobles were always females, and these were -<a name="Page_172" id="Page_172"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 172</span> -called <dfn>Bádeks</dfn>:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_365" id="fnanchor_365"></a><a href="#footnote_365" class="fnanchor">[365]</a></span> -no beardless males were admitted -to the feast: even eunuchs were excluded from the -banquets of the Gilshaiyan princes, and they were -waited on by beardless youths under ten years of -age; and at the time of taking wine even they were -not allowed to be present. The ancients, or those -previous to the Gilshaiyan dynasty, had appointed -seasons for drinking wine, which occurred when -the physicians prescribed it for the removal of some -infirmity, on which occasions they conformed to the -above-mentioned rules. If any one, and the king in -particular, labored under a malady the cure of which -could only be effected by wine, and the invalid -should be altogether reluctant to the drinking of it, -in that case, as the cure was confined to the use of -wine, the patient was obliged to comply with the -prescription: for things forbidden under other circumstances, -become lawful when taken for medicinal -purposes: but with this reservation, that no -injury should accrue to any innoxious animal.</p> - -<p>Along the roads frequented by travellers in this -realm, there were many caravansaries, between -every two of which were posted sentinels, so that -the voice of a person reached from one to the next. -In every halting-place was a <dfn>Shudahband</dfn>, a physician, -and a <dfn>Tîmárî</dfn>; and the inns were also constructed -<a name="Page_173" id="Page_173"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 173</span> -near each other. Now a <span class="title">Tîmárî</span> is one appointed -by the king to protect the helpless, such as persons -of tender years and the infirm. Aged women brought -out from the Haram all the requisite supplies (for -these establishments), which they transferred to -aged men, by whom they were conveyed to the -attendants.</p> - -<p>The soldiers’ wives were not without employment, -such as spinning, sewing, and in various -works, the making of house-furniture, riding, and -in the management of the bow they were as able as -men; they were all formed by discipline and inured -to toil.</p> - -<p>It is evident to all the world that, notwithstanding -the extent of their realms was so exceedingly great -and spacious, yet in consequence of these arrangements, -the kings were necessarily informed of every -event which occurred: in addition to what has been -stated, pursuant to decrees influential as those of -Heaven, villages were erected at every stage and -halting-place, at each of which the king’s horses -were picketted, and men appointed whom they called -<dfn>Ravand</dfn>, or “couriers.” When the <span class="title">Shudahband</span> day -by day delivered the report of whatever had occurred -into the hand of a courier, the one near the -city delivered it into the custody of another, and so -on, from the couriers of the stage to those of the -villages, until the report reached the capital. The -<a name="Page_174" id="Page_174"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 174</span> -king observed the same system in corresponding -with the Umras; at one time appointing an individual -who was with great caution to communicate -the royal despatches without entrusting them into -the hands of another; a courier of this description -mounted at every stage the king’s post-horses which -were picketted at the different halting-places until -he completed his object: this description of courier -they call <dfn>Nuwand</dfn>; the Umras also despatched <span class="title">Nuwands</span> -to the king’s court; but the couriers belonging -to royalty or the nobility were not empowered to -seize any individual’s horse, or practise oppression, -as they would in that case meet with due retaliation: -there were besides, at the different villages, persons -stationed as guards, who were liable to be called to -account if a traveller suffered oppressive treatment -from any quarter. <span class="title">Shadahbands</span> also were there. -<span class="person">Azar Húsháng</span>, that is, <span class="title">Máhábád</span>, thus enjoined: -“Let there be no exactions practised towards the -Rayas: let him afford what he well can, and nothing -more;” they therefore only took such an -amount as maintained both soldiers and rayas in -tranquillity.</p> - -<p>All the king’s devoted servants entertained this -belief, that the performance of whatever was agreeable -to the king was attended with advantage in both -worlds; also that the royal command was the interpretation -of the word of God, and that it was highly -<a name="Page_175" id="Page_175"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 175</span> -praiseworthy to meet death in the path of obedience -to the Great King: nay, they accounted death, with -the prospect of royal approbation, which is the bestower -of paradise, as far superior to life; but he -must be a king who acts in conformity with the -<dfn>Paiman-i-Farhang</dfn>, or “excellent code.” In short, -the system of inquiry was such, that the inspectors -used to question the soldiers, whether they were -satisfied or not with their chief.</p> - -<p>With respect to keeping guard, it was thus settled; -that out of the four persons acting in concert -with each other, two went to sleep and the other -two stood up armed; again, when the sleepers arose -the others went to rest; and on the expiration of -the night, other troops came to keep watch: the -night sentinels, however, did not depart but by -order of their officer. These inspected the men -three times during the night. In that manner each -person had, every week, one day’s watch: and -when they retired from keeping guard, proclamation -was made to this purport by the king’s command: -“If any have cause of complaint against their inspector -or chief, let them not keep it concealed.”</p> - -<p>In like manner every month the inspectors, whether -near or remote, looked into the state of the -military; if they found any individual, without sufficient -cause, deficient in the requisites for service, -they ordered him to be punished, unless he adduced -<a name="Page_176" id="Page_176"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 176</span> -a satisfactory excuse and testimony; in which case -they accepted his reasons: and if they proceeded -from overpowering necessity, they had regard -to it.</p> - -<p>To whomsover they had assigned land, <span class="title">Jaghir</span> or -<span class="title">Mukásá</span>, they gave daily or monthly pay with the -greatest punctuality, never permitting any deficiency -to occur.</p> - -<p>If any were deficient in the performance of duty, -for example, being absent one watch without sufficient -cause, besides inflicting the due punishment, -they deducted the pay of that watch, but not of the -whole day. When, for some good reason, he applied -for a furlough, he obtained it.</p> - -<p>The prime minister was obliged to institute an -inquiry into any affair of which he got the necessary -information. The <dfn>Rais sufid</dfn>, “chieftain,” must -produce a Khushnúdí namah, or “a certificate,” -purporting that he had given the due to his people, -and that they were satisfied with him; also that -whatever revenue had been received was delivered -over to the inspector, in the presence of the Anim -and Shudahband: the inspectors also produced, in -the royal presence, certificates stating that they had -practised no oppression towards the military: and -although the spies made a report of all particulars -every week, still the king inquired besides of the -soldiers, as to the truth of this approbation.</p> - -<p><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 177</span> -The Yazdaníans never attempted a thing mentioned -with abhorrence in the Farhang code, in which -every fault had its fixed punishment. When any -one was convicted of a crime, the king’s near attendants -never made intercession for him: for example, -pursuant to this code, and by the king’s command, -the son inflicted punishment on the father, and the -father on his son, so that even princes of the blood -had not the power of breaking this law; if they were -guilty of injustice, the kings themselves inflicted the -allotted punishment: for example, <span class="person">Jai Alád</span> had a -son called <span class="person">Húdah</span>, whom he himself beheaded for -having put to death the son of a villager. The king’s -devoted servants raised themselves to distinction by -their excellence and exertions to obtain praise and -titles: whoever swore falsely by the royal family -was expelled from all intercourse with them.</p> - -<p>There were peculiar places assigned for the combat -of elephants, lions, and other wild beasts, the -backs and sides of which places were so elevated, that -people might behold from every part, without the -possibility of sustaining injury from the elephants -and other wild animals: the king being all the while -seated on a lofty throne. They never created embarrassments -in bazars or populous places with furious -elephants or fierce lions, but kept them in remote -situations and secure places such as before-mentioned, -from whence they could easily remove them. -<a name="Page_178" id="Page_178"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 178</span> -It is recorded that, in the time of Shírzád Shah, the -Yassánian, an elephant having broken out of the -place where he was tied up, killed some one; on -which the king, in retaliation for the deed, put the -elephant to death, and also inflicted capital punishment -on the elephant-keepers and the door-keepers -of the elephant-stables, who had left the door open. -The king never listened to tales of fiction, but solely -to true statements: the military and the rayas also -never averted their necks from executing the king’s -commands: and if a traveller invoked the king’s -name and entered into any house, the inmates not -only washed his feet, but even drank the water in -which they performed the operation, as a sovereign -remedy, and sedulously showed all due attentions to -their guest.</p> - -<p>On the day of battle, the soldiers were drawn up -in right, centre, and left columns, an arrangement -which they never violated in any engagement: as -when once dissolved, the restoration of that combined -order would be impossible: when the troops -had been arrayed in this manner, they gave the -enemy battle; and in proportion to the necessity, -the bazar, or “market” of assistance followed -them: even after victory they observed the same -arrangement.</p> - -<p>On the day of triumph, when the enemy fled and -the foe dispersed, the entire army did not give themselves -<a name="Page_179" id="Page_179"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 179</span> -up to plunder; but the king appointed for the -service a certain detachment, accompanied by <dfn>Shudahbands</dfn> -and <dfn>Binandahs</dfn>, or inspectors and supervisors, -whilst the rest of the army remained prepared -for battle and ready to renew the engagement; -not one of them raising the dust of plunder or departing -to their homes, lest the enemy, on discovering -their dispersion in pursuit of plunder, might -return and gain the victory. When they had made -themselves masters of the spoil, the king ordered -them to set apart the choicest portion for the indigent -and the erection of religious foundations: he -next distributed an ample share to the men proportioned -to their exertions; after which he gave each -of his courtiers a portion; and he lastly conferred a -suitable portion on the great officers; but no part of -this division entered into the account of the allowances -settled on the military class: last of all, the king -drew the pen of approbation over whatever was -worthy of the royal majesty. Some of the ancient -kings and all the princes of the remote ages, far from -taking any part of the spoil to their own share, even -made good every injury which happened to the army -in executing the royal orders, as the loss of horses -and such like.</p> - -<p>After the victory, they never oppressed the helpless, -the indigent, merchants, travellers, or the -generality of the inhabitants, and the Rayas. Those -<a name="Page_180" id="Page_180"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 180</span> -who were guilty of such acts were, after conviction, -punished. They divided among them whatever the -enemy had in their flight left on the field of battle: -but whatever in the different realms belonged to the -conquered prince and his near connexions, they -submitted to the royal pleasure. They never slew -or offered violence to the person who threw down -his arms and asked for quarter.</p> - -<p>This class of the obedient followers of the <span class="title">Azar -Hushang</span> code were styled <dfn>Farishtah</dfn>, “angelic;” -<dfn>Surúsh</dfn>, “seraphic;” <dfn>Farishtah manish</dfn>, “angel-hearted;” -<dfn>Surúsh manish</dfn>, “seraph-hearted;” -<dfn>Sipásí</dfn>, “adorers;” <dfn>Sahí dín</dfn>, “upright in faith;” -and <dfn>Zanádil</dfn>, “the benevolent;” opposed to whom -are the <dfn>Ahriman</dfn>, the <dfn>Dîvs</dfn>, and the <dfn>Tunádil</dfn>, or -“fierce demons.”</p> - -<p>The Divs are of two kinds; the one class subject -to the king of the angels, who, through fear of that -prince, have been compelled to desist from injuring -animated beings; the second kind consists of Dîvs -in the realms of other kings, who break through the -covenants of the law, and slay animals: these in -truth are no other than wolves, tigers, scorpions, -and serpents.</p> - -<p>They record that in the time of <span class="person">Ardeshír</span>, the son -of <span class="person">Azád</span>, the son of <span class="person">Babegán</span>, -the son of <span class="person">Nushirván</span>, -there was a Jaiyanian champion by name <span class="person">Farhád</span>, -the son of <span class="person">Alád</span>, who were both ranked among the -<a name="Page_181" id="Page_181"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 181</span> -distinguished leaders: Alád, when in a state of intoxication, -having slain a sheep with his sword, his -son Farhád, on ascertaining this, made him pass -under the sharp-edged scimitar; the people held him -in detestation, and said: “Thou shouldst have sent -thy father to the king.” He replied, “My father -had committed two criminal actions; the first, in -taking so much wine as to lose his senses; the -second in destroying a sheep. Although it would -have been proper to send him to the king, I -could not suffer any delay to intervene in punishing -his crimes: at present I confess myself guilty -of transgressing the Abadián code, for not submitting -the details of this affair to the king.” He -then ordered himself to be put in chains, and -brought in that state before the king: but his majesty -drew the pen of forgiveness over his crime, and elevated -the apex of his dignity.</p> - -<p>Moreover it was necessary to drink wine in a -secret place, as they inflicted due punishment on -whoever was found intoxicated in the public bazar. -In truth, permission to drink wine was only given -in cases of malady, as from the time of the very -ancient sovereigns of the Mahabad dynasty, until -that of <span class="person">Yássán Ajam</span>, no person partook of wine or -strong drinks, except the invalids who were ordered -by the physicians to have recourse to them; and -even they partook of them according to the established -<a name="Page_182" id="Page_182"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 182</span> -rules: but among the ancient kings, <span class="decoration">i. e.</span> -from Kaiomars’ to Yezdagird, they at first indulged -secretly in wine for the purpose of sensual enjoyment, -under color of conforming to medical ordinances. -At last matters terminated in this, that -wine was openly produced at the banquets, and the -champions in attendance on the king partook of it; -but it was not permitted to be drunk openly in the -bazars or streets.</p> - -<p>The king gave audience every day, being seated on -an elevation, that is a <dfn>Tábsár</dfn>, or elevated window: -in the same manner he took his seat in the <dfn>Roz-Gáh</dfn>, -which is a place where, on his rising from the <span class="trans">Tábsár</span>, -he seated himself on a throne: on which occasion -the nobles in attendance were drawn out in -their proper gradations: note, that by giving audience -is meant, turning his attention to the concerns -of mankind. Every decree issued by the king from -the <span class="trans">rozistán</span> or <span class="trans">shabistán</span> -of the interior or exterior, -was transcribed by the Shudahband and again submitted -to the royal presence, and when its promulgation -was ratified, it was laid before his majesty a -second time.</p> - -<p>Whenever a traveller entered a caravanserai or -city, the secretaries of the place, in the presence of -witnesses and notaries, made out a statement of his -wealth and effects, which they gave him; and the -same at the time of sale; so that if he should afterwards -<a name="Page_183" id="Page_183"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 183</span> -declare that his stock had been diminished or -some part had been abstracted, they could ascertain -its value and quantity: there was also a fixed price -assigned to every commodity and article, and also a -certain rate of profit prescribed to each vendor.</p> - -<p>The following was their mode of hunting: the -army being drawn out in array, in right, centre, and -left columns, the nobles and eminent warriors took -their several posts according to rank, and during a -period of forty or fifty days formed a circle around -both mountains and plains. If the country abounded -in wood, they formed the whole of it into well secured -piles: the king then directed his steps towards -that quarter, and his train by degrees drove in the -game, keeping up a strict watch that no beast of -prey should escape out of the circle: on this the -king, his sons, and relations dispatched with arrows -as many as they could; after this the king, surrounded -by the most distinguished courtiers, sat on a throne -placed on an eminence, formed of strong timbers so -fastened together that no animal could get up there: -the generals, and then the whole of the soldiery -charged into the centre, so that not a trace remained -of ferocious animals, that is, of lions and such noxious -creatures: they next counted the numbers of -the slain, and having piled them in one place, formed -a hillock of their carcases. If they discovered a -harmless animal amongst the slain, they ordered -<a name="Page_184" id="Page_184"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 184</span> -vengeance to be inflicted on its destroyer, and cast -his body among those of the ferocious animals.</p> - -<p>They record that in the reign of Yássán, the son -of Sháh Mahbúl, an elk had been slain by some -tyrannically-inclined person, on beholding which -the father of the insane criminal, with the ruthless -sword, immediately dissevered his son’s head from -his shoulders. Also in the reign of Núshirvan, the -fortunate descendant from the <span class="title">Sháíyán</span> dynasty, at -one time whilst in the pursuit of game, an arrow -shot intentionally from the bow of a noble champion -named <span class="person">Fartúsh</span>, wounded a deer so that it fell dead: -his son, <span class="person">Ayín Túsh</span>, was perfectly horror-struck, and -in retaliation with an arrow pinned his father’s body -to that of the slaughtered deer; so that, in future, -there should be no infringement of the Farhang law.</p> - -<p>As soon as a lofty mound had been formed of -slaughtered noxious creatures, which either walk, -fly, or graze, then by the king’s command a Mobid ascended -the eminence and said: “Such is the recompense -of all who slay harmless creatures; such the -retribution which awaits the destroyers of animals -free from crimes.” He then said to the harmless -creatures: “The equitable king of kings, in order -to destroy the noxious animals which cause you -so many calamities, has come forward in his own -precious person, and taken vengeance for the misdeeds -of these wicked creatures: now depart in -<a name="Page_185" id="Page_185"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 185</span> -peace; behold the vengeance inflicted on your -sanguinary foes; and commit no sin before the -protector of your species.” They then left a -road open for the innoxious animals to escape and -hasten to their mountains and deserts. This kind -of hunting they called <dfn>Shikár-i-dád</dfn> or <dfn>Dád-shikár</dfn>; i. e.: -“the hunt of equity,” or “the equity-hunt.” The -royal governors also in their respective provinces -adopted a chase of the like description. Whenever -the sovereign was of such a character as not to deviate -from the Farhang code, if any person declined -rendering allegiance to the prince chosen by him for -his successor, that person was immediately destroyed -by the people.</p> - -<p>In the reign of <span class="person">Sháh Gilív</span>, a champion having beheld -in a vision, that the king had raised to the -throne one of the princes who met not his approbation, -immediately on awaking put himself to death. -Sháh Gilív, on hearing this, said to the son of the -deceased: “When a person is awake, rebellion is -to be abhorred; but not in a state of sleep, as it is -then involuntary.”</p> - -<p>Also in the reign of <span class="person">Bahman</span>, the son of Isfendiar, -the son of <span class="person">Ardashír</span>, the son of -<span class="person">Azad Shai</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_366" id="fnanchor_366"></a><a href="#footnote_366" class="fnanchor">[366]</a></span> -one of the -<a name="Page_186" id="Page_186"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 186</span> -generals, <span class="person">Bahram</span> by name, governor of Khorasan, -having made arrangements for revolt and rebellion, -the soldiers on learning his designs put him to death, -and offering up his flesh after the manner of the -Moslem sacrifice, divided it and ate of it, saying, -“He is a noxious animal.”</p> - -<p>In the same reign, a champion, by name <span class="person">Gilshásp</span>, -saw in a trance that he had rebelled against Bahman: -on relating the dream to his soldiers, they for -answer drew forth their swords and shed his blood, -saying: “Although there is no blame to be attached -to the vision, yet he is the genius of evil for publishing -it abroad.”</p> - -<p><span class="person">Ayín Shakíb</span>, a Móbed, who saw in a vision that he -was uttering imprecations against <span class="person">Ardíshír</span>, the son -of <span class="person">Babagán</span>, the son of <span class="person">Azád</span> -the Jaiyánían, immediately -on awaking cut out his tongue: such was their -devotedness to their kings.</p> - -<p>They moreover say, in the case of every prince -who was adorned with sound doctrine, good works, -and noble descent; who promoted the interests of -the military and the happiness of the Ráyás, and -who never deviated from the covenant of the law; -that when any one proved refractory to his commands, -that person’s life and property were confiscated -with justice. The kings made trials of their -sons’ capacities, and conferred the royal dignity -on whichever was found the most deserving; not -<a name="Page_187" id="Page_187"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 187</span> -making the one king whom they regarded with the -greatest natural affection. They also said: “Sovereign -power becomes not the monarch who transgresses -this blessed law; neither should any -prince give way to the disposition to deviate in the -slightest degree from any of its covenants, lest -from their esteeming one branch of the law as of -no importance, they might regard the whole as of -trifling obligation.” The adorable and almighty -God so gave his aid to these praise-worthy sovereigns -that they decked the bride of dominion with -the ornaments of equity, benevolence, and impartial -justice. Merchants, travellers, and scholars moved -about in perfect security; during their reigns there -existed no annoyance from the payment of tolls, customs, -and other exactions; and in the caravanserais -was neither rent nor hire.</p> - -<p>The kings had the covenants of the law transcribed, -which they always kept near them, and had -read over to them daily by some confidential courtier: -on great festivals they were communicated to -the military and the rayas, with strong injunctions -to store them up in their recollection. The Umras -also pursued the same system, and recited the law -to their dependants. In like manner, the princesses -of the <dfn>Shabistán</dfn>, “night-apartment,” observed the -same rule.</p> - -<p>They moreover say that every prince who, through -<a name="Page_188" id="Page_188"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 188</span> -the suggestions of his own mind or of his minister’s, -adopted any measures except in conformity to this -law, bitterly repented of it.—<span class="person">Jai Alad</span> has said: -“Whoever in the king’s presence utters a word contrary -to the covenants of the law, or persuades -him to do so; the king may rest assured that -the object of that person is to throw the kingdom -into confusion.”</p> - -<p>When the Yezdáníán princes and rulers gave audience, -there lay before them a book, a scourge, and -a sword; the book contained the covenants of the -law; and every affair which was submitted to them -being considered according to the view taken of it -in the book, they then gave a decision.</p> - -<p>In the royal dynasty which preceded the Gilsháíán -kings, there was no violation whatever of this code; -but under later princes some disorder crept into -its observance. They also say, that whenever they -violated the commands, decrees, maxims, rules, and -decisions of this covenant, they became associated -with regret and repentance. Whenever a sovereign -sustained any injury, it arose principally from inattention -to this standard; and whenever a monarch -lived in prosperity, it proceeded from his scrupulous -observance of the most minute details of this code. -The ancient sovereigns, that is, the <span class="title">Abádíán</span>, -the <span class="title">Jaiyán</span>, -the <span class="title">Shaiyán</span> and the <span class="title">Yassánían</span>, -who are the most -renowned of kings, never lost sight of the Farhang -<a name="Page_189" id="Page_189"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 189</span> -Abád, that is, they did every thing according to its -dictates: this code they also called <dfn>Hirbud Sár</dfn>, or -“sacerdotal purity.” During this period no enemy -arose, and no foe obtained the supremacy; the military -and the rayas enjoyed undisturbed repose. -Amongst the <span class="title">Gilsháíyán</span> kings, -<span class="person">Hushang</span>, <span class="person">Tahmúras</span>, -<span class="person">Faridun</span>, <span class="person">Minuchahar</span>, -<span class="person">Kaikobád</span>, <span class="person">Kaikhusró</span>, -<span class="person">Lohorasp</span>, -<span class="person">Bahman</span>, <span class="person">Ardashir Babágán</span>, -and the others, had this -code transcribed in secret characters, which they -employed as mental amulets and spiritual charms. -<span class="person">Náshirván</span> also, having procured a transcript of this -law, kept it by him. Although all the sovereigns -conformed to this rule, yet none observed it in so -high a degree as the ancient sovereigns of the <span class="title">Abádíán</span>, -<span class="title">Jaiyán</span>, <span class="title">Shaiyán</span>, -and <span class="title">Yassáníán</span> dynasties: as in -the belief held by the <span class="title">Yazdanians</span>, or “theists,” their -dignity so far transcends that of the Gilsháíyáns, -that we can institute no comparison between them. -The Gilsháíyán princes also exerted themselves to -prevent the slaughter of harmless animals; although -the people did not pay the same respect to their -orders as to those of the ancient sovereigns, yet, as -compared with their successors, people were more -exact in the performance of duty than in later -periods.</p> - -<p>They say that <span class="person">Rustam</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_367" id="fnanchor_367"></a><a href="#footnote_367" class="fnanchor">[367]</a></span> -the son of <span class="person">Zaul</span>, at the moment -<a name="Page_190" id="Page_190"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 190</span> -of abandoning the robes of mortality, having -heaved a deep sigh, the king of Kabúl said to him: -“O Rustam! art thou alarmed at death?” the hero -replied: “God forbid! for the death of the body is -to the spirit the bestowing of life; and the issuing -forth under the sphere is the being born from the -maternal womb; when the cloud of the body is -removed, the sun of spirit shines more resplendently: -but my grief proceeded from this reflection, -that when Kaús commanded Tús to put me -to the ignominious death of the -gibbet,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_368" id="fnanchor_368"></a><a href="#footnote_368" class="fnanchor">[368]</a></span> -I refused -to submit to the punishment. Although Kaús, -<a name="Page_191" id="Page_191"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 191</span> -in violation of the Farhang code, had passed a -sentence opposed to the decisions of Mahabád, -and even the interests of Kaús were ultimately -advanced by my rebellious conduct, I am at present -afflicted on that account, lest, perhaps, any -thing opposed to the Farhang code may have -proceeded from me. In like manner Isfendiar -was slain by my hand,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_369" id="fnanchor_369"></a><a href="#footnote_369" class="fnanchor">[369]</a></span> -and I refused to be put -in chains; although it became him not to exact -compliance, nor was it in accordance with the -Farhang code.” Dastan (Zaul) also lived in regret, -<a name="Page_192" id="Page_192"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 192</span> -saying: “Why did I utter a word in opposition to -Kai Khusran, on the day when he chose Lohorasp -as his successor, although my sentiments -were expressed by way of -counsel?”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_370" id="fnanchor_370"></a><a href="#footnote_370" class="fnanchor">[370]</a></span> -When -Bahman, the son of Isfendiar, made preparations -for laying waste Sistan, notwithstanding the people -urged Dastan to give the invaders battle, he approved -not of it, but said: “Never more will I break through -the Farhang code.” He then came on foot into -the presence of Bahman, by whose orders he was -thrown into chains: but he finally attained the king’s -unbounded esteem, and was released; whilst his -son Faramarz, contrary to the Farhang code, gave -the king battle, and, being taken prisoner, suffered -the ignominious death of the -gibbet:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_371" id="fnanchor_371"></a><a href="#footnote_371" class="fnanchor">[371]</a></span> -his son was -<a name="Page_193" id="Page_193"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 193</span> -also put to death on the same account. The implicit -obedience of the son <span class="person">Minufarad</span> to -Kobad,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_372" id="fnanchor_372"></a><a href="#footnote_372" class="fnanchor">[372]</a></span> the -father of Nushirvan, is also well known; although -that prince was not strictly entitled to obedience -according to the Farhang covenant, yet the devotedness -of his subjects is highly celebrated.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_350" id="footnote_350"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_350"><span class="muchsmaller">[350]</span></a> - Buzurg-Mihr was the celebrated minister of Nushirvan (see -note, <a href="#footnote_325"><abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 104</a>).</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_351" id="footnote_351"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_351"><span class="muchsmaller">[351]</span></a> - Azad Bahman is called by the Sipasian (<a href="#Page_6">see -<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 6</a>) the precious jewel -of the intellectual principle. In the Zand-books and in the Bun-Dehesh, -he is invoked as created by Ormuzd, and as one who is to conduct the -heavens; he presides over the eleventh month of the year and the second -day of the month; he is the king of the luminous world; the other angels -repose under his guard; he is the principle of the intelligence of the ear, -given by Ormuzd; the father of the purity of the heart; the Ized of peace -who watches over the people; he aids in the distribution of the waters, -and in the production of herds and other riches; it is he who receives -the souls of the just at their entrance into heaven, congratulates -them on their happy arrival, and clothes them with robes of gold.—<cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, -I, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 81, 134, 416, 418; II, -<abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 75, 100, 144, 152, 316, and -elsewhere. According to the Desátir (English <abbr title="translation">transl.</abbr> -<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 63) Bahman is -the first of the numberless created angels.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_352" id="footnote_352"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_352"><span class="muchsmaller">[352]</span></a> - Vakhshúr signifies “prophet” in the old Persian language. According -to the Desátir (<abbr title="edition">edit.</abbr> of Bombay, English -<abbr title="translation">transl.</abbr>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 79), <dfn>Sadvakhshúr</dfn> is -an epithet of Hoshang, signifying “one hundred prophets.” by a mistake -ascribed, as well as the work <cite>Javidan Khirid</cite>, to Jemshid, in my <a href="#footnote_251">note, -<abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 31 and 32</a>.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_353" id="footnote_353"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_353"><span class="muchsmaller">[353]</span></a> - The manuscripts read <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">نيالاد</span>, - the manuscript of Oude reads: <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">تلبہ لا</span>; -neither word is found in any dictionary.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_354" id="footnote_354"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_354"><span class="muchsmaller">[354]</span></a> - The manuscripts read <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">پرده</span>, - which appears the best reading; the -manuscript of Oude has, like the <abbr title="edition">edit.</abbr> - of Calcutta, <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">برده</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_355" id="footnote_355"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_355"><span class="muchsmaller">[355]</span></a> - The manuscripts, with that of Oude, read <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">ماه</span>, the edition of -Calcutta, <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">باد</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_356" id="footnote_356"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_356"><span class="muchsmaller">[356]</span></a> - It is not decided whether “Azizi” here and elsewhere is a proper -name, or the attribute of a person.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_357" id="footnote_357"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_357"><span class="muchsmaller">[357]</span></a> - “Arshiya”—the manuscripts read “Arsmai;” the manuscript of -Oude has <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">از سمای</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_358" id="footnote_358"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_358"><span class="muchsmaller">[358]</span></a> - Jenghis Khan, “the king of kings,” was the name assumed by Temuz -Khin, a Moghul, when he had succeeded in uniting under his own and -sole domination the various tribes of the Turks. He was born in the -year 1162 and died in 1228 of our era. His history is sufficiently known -and belongs not to this place.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_359" id="footnote_359"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_359"><span class="muchsmaller">[359]</span></a> - Kazl-básh signifies in the Turkish language “red head,” a name -given by the Turks to the Persians, since they began to wear a cap of -that colour enveloped by a turban with twelve folds in honour of the -twelve Imams. This happened in the year 1501, under the reign of -their king Ismáil Sûfi, already mentioned, <a href="#footnote_285">note 6</a>, - <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 52, 53.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_360" id="footnote_360"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_360"><span class="muchsmaller">[360]</span></a> - Intending to put an end to the march.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_361" id="footnote_361"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_361"><span class="muchsmaller">[361]</span></a> - <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">درفش و سوزن</span> signify also a bodkin and a needle.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_362" id="footnote_362"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_362"><span class="muchsmaller">[362]</span></a> - Gurgin, in the Shahnamah, is called the son of Mélad, and was one -of the principal chieftains under the reign of Khusro. Gurgin’s character -does not figure advantageously in the history of Pézshen and Munizshá, -one of the most interesting episodes of Ferdusi’s historical poem.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_363" id="footnote_363"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_363"><span class="muchsmaller">[363]</span></a> - The manuscript translation of D. Shea reads in this place: “These -officers are called <dfn>Sámór</dfn>, or the <dfn>Char Ayín Farangi</dfn>, “the four -institutes of law:” which words are not in the printed edition of Calcutta, -but are probably in the two manuscripts which he had before his -eyes.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_364" id="footnote_364"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_364"><span class="muchsmaller">[364]</span></a> - It cannot be denied that the Persians, in very remote times, practised -castration, and especially upon youths distinguished by their beauty -(<abbr title="Herodotus liber Six">Herod. lib. VI</abbr>). They are even accused of having been the first among -whom this infamous practice and the name of eunuchs originated (<abbr title="Stephanus">Steph.</abbr> -de urbibus. Donat. in Eunuchum, act. I, scen. 2). <abbr title="Ammianus Marcellinus">Ammian. Marcell.</abbr> -(<abbr title="liber fourteen">lib. XIV</abbr>) attributes it, however, to Semiramis. (See upon this subject -<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Brissonius, de Regio Persarum principatu</span>, - <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 294, 295.) The passage in -the text permits us to believe that this cruel operation was a dishonouring -punishment, generally abhorred, and particularly restricted by severe laws -among the Persians.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_365" id="footnote_365"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_365"><span class="muchsmaller">[365]</span></a> - It may be recollected that the interior service in the palace of an -Indian king was of old always performed by females.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_366" id="footnote_366"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_366"><span class="muchsmaller">[366]</span></a> - Bahman, son of Isfendiar and successor of Gustasp, is also named -Kái Ardashír, diraz-dost and identified with the Artaxerxes μακροχειρ -(longimanus) of the Greeks. He is placed 505 years before our era. He -reigned 112 years, according to the Shah-namah.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_367" id="footnote_367"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_367"><span class="muchsmaller">[367]</span></a> - Rustam, who in the Shah-namah, during a period of six centuries, -appears rather a generic name, or a representative of the Medo-Persian -heroism than a particular individual, Rustam is reckoned the fifth of the -ten Persian philosophers enumerated in our note, page 112. Hence Rustam’s -philosophical reflexions. In general, we see frequently in the Persian -historical accounts the characters of kings, heroes, ascetics, and -philosophers confusedly blended in the same persons.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_368" id="footnote_368"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_368"><span class="muchsmaller">[368]</span></a> - At the time that a great army of Turanians commanded by Sohrab -overrun Persia, Rustam, the ruler of Sistan, was summoned by Káús, his -liege, to repulse the invaders. Rustam, although willing to obey, having -spent some days in feasting, appeared later than his sovereign expected, -who, in a fit of rage, after having severely rebuked him for his tardiness, -condemned him to an ignominious death. Gív, one of the principal -chiefs, and friend of Rustam, was charged with the execution, but, refusing -to do what he felt impossible, he was sentenced to share the fate of -the great hero, and Tus, a chief mentioned in the text, received the order -to execute the mandate upon both. A reconciliation however took place -between the king and his powerful vassals, whose united efforts were -required against the Turanians. It was in the course of this war that -Rustam slew his son Sohrab, without knowing him, and without supposing -him at the head of the Turanian army: this is the subject of one of the -most celebrated episodes of Ferdusi’s Shah-namah.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_369" id="footnote_369"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_369"><span class="muchsmaller">[369]</span></a> - Isfendiar, the son of Gushtasp, several times mentioned in the course -of this work, adopted, like his father, and zealously propagated, Zoroaster’s -religion, which caused a new war between the Persians and Turanians. -Arjasp, the sovereign of Túr, having invaded Persia, Isfendiar -was called to the assistance of his father, who promised the throne to him -if he repulsed the invaders; but, delivered from danger by his son’s successful -exertions, Gushtasp, unwilling to fulfil his promise, readily listened -to suggestions about the treacherous designs of Isfendiar whom he emprisoned. -Arjasp, profiting by this event, marched to Balkh, killed Lohrasp, -the father of Gushtasp, carried off the two daughters of the latter, -whom he defeated in a battle and pent up in a fortress. Isfendiar, called -out from his prison, routed the Turanian army and released his father. -Moreover, he rescued his two sisters (one of whom was his wife) from captivity, -by taking the strong residence of Arjasp, whom he killed with his -own hand. He was not even then to enjoy the well-deserved reward, -but charged with the most perilous expedition to bring Rustam in chains -before the throne of his discontented liege. In vain did the hero just -mentioned proffer his willingness to submit to any terms of submission -except that of being enchained; nothing less than this was insisted upon: -a combat became necessary, in which Isfendiar reduced his great antagonist -to have recourse to the miraculous aid of Simurgh (see <a href="#footnote_290">note, -<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 55</a>); by this -alone Rustam was enabled to kill Isfendiar in a renewed -combat.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_370" id="footnote_370"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_370"><span class="muchsmaller">[370]</span></a> - Káí Khusró, after a glorious reign of sixty years, resolved to resign -the crown. He assembled in a plain all his chiefs and the people of -Iran. After a magnificent festival of seven days, he proclaimed his final -determination; divided the empire among several chiefs, and appointed -Lohrasp the successor of his sovereignty. This choice met with some -opposition on the part of the aged Zaul (see Rauzat-us-Safa, Shea’s -<abbr title="translation">transl.</abbr>, -<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 263), and although this chief yielded to the sovereign will, yet he never -paid homage to the new king; and a pernicious misunderstanding remained -between the descendants of both parties. It may be remarked that Káí -Khusró’s abdication is quite Indian. According to Ferdúsi, it was towards -the mountains of India, called Amajal, that Káí Khusró bent his steps, -accompanied by a number of his chiefs, the most ancient of whom he -soon dismissed, whilst others followed him further, although warned by -him of an impending storm of snow which was to bury them all. He -suddenly disappeared, and they were never heard of. This reminds of -more than one similar event in Indian history.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_371" id="footnote_371"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_371"><span class="muchsmaller">[371]</span></a> - This account agrees with the Shah-namah, according to which Bahman, -in order to revenge the death of his father (see note last but one), -invaded Sistan and took Zaul with all his treasures. It was then that -Farámars, the son of Rustam, encountered the Persians in a battle: he -was defeated, taken prisoner, and hanged. According to the Rauzat-us-Safa -(see Shea’s <abbr title="translation">transl.</abbr>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 340), -Bahman, on reaching Zabulistan, heard -of Rustam’s death; his son Farámans fell, and Zaul was taken -prisoner.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_372" id="footnote_372"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_372"><span class="muchsmaller">[372]</span></a> - Kobad, the Cabades or Cavades of the Greeks, the eighteenth king of -the Sassanians, ruled 43 years in Persia from 488 to 531, A. D., not ingloriously -within and without his empire, from which he was however -driven on account of the support which he gave to the new and dangerous -doctrine of the prophet Mazdak, about whom see section <abbr title="Fifteen">XV</abbr> of this -chapter. Kobad recovered the throne by the assistance of the Tartar -prince Hestial (see Ferdusi’s Shah-namah), or (see Herbelot) by that of the -nations, called Haïathelah, who inhabit the countries of Kandahar, Thibet, -and Barantolah.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p4"><span class="sc">The fourth section of the Dabistan</span> contains an -account of the Jamshaspian sect. The <span class="title">Yekanah-binan</span>, -“seers of unity,” also called the Jamshaí, -who form another great body of the Parsees, are the -followers of <span class="person">Jamshasp</span>, the son of -<span class="person">Jemshid</span>, the son of -<span class="person">Tahmúras</span>: in their speech there is much that is -enigmatical, and endless subtilty. Jamshasp never -invited any one to follow his tenets, but he was -of such exemplary life and so great a sage, that the -<a name="Page_194" id="Page_194"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 194</span> -people bore him great affection, and wrote down his -sayings, until by degrees great numbers voluntarily -adopted them as articles of faith. According to -them, the world has no external existence; they -hold that whatever exists is God, and that naught -exists besides him: a holy man has said:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Every eye which is directed to the primitive nature,</div> - <div class="i0">Unless tinged with the collyrium of divine light,</div> - <div class="i0">Whatever it beholds in the world, except thy face,</div> - <div class="i0">Is but the second image of distorted vision.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>They hold that all the intelligences, souls, angels, -heavens, stars, elements, the animal, vegetable, and -mineral kingdoms exist within his knowledge, and -are not external to it: which sentiment king Jamshid -explained to Abtin, saying: “Know, O Abtin, -that the Almighty conceived in idea the first intelligence; -in like manner the first intelligence conceived -three objects, namely, the second intelligence, -the soul of the upper sphere, and the body -of the same heaven: in like manner, the second -intelligence conceived three objects, and so on in -succession to the elements and their combinations: -and this is exactly as when we form an idea of a -city, with its palaces, gardens, and inhabitants, -which in reality have no existence external to our -imagination; so that, consequently, the existence -of this world is of the same description.” The -Abadian regard these sayings as enigmatical, although -<a name="Page_195" id="Page_195"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 195</span> -Jamshid composed many philosophical -works, which the Yekanah Binan admit without -any commentary: many of the Parsees adopt this -creed, and particularly the ascetics of that class. -The belief of these sectaries is illustrated by the -following tetrastich from Subahani:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“The sophist, who has no knowledge of intellect,</div> - <div class="i0">Asserts that this world is altogether an optical illusion,</div> - <div class="i0">In truth, the world is an illusion; however,</div> - <div class="i0">Certainty is for ever displaying her effulgence there.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>On this subject they have composed various -works, the most celebrated of which is, the “Testament -of Jamshid addressed to Abtin,” compiled by -<span class="person">Farhang Dostoor</span>. <span class="person">Shídah</span>, -<span class="person">Suhráb</span>, <span class="person">Mízan</span>, and <span class="person">Jamshásp</span>, -who, under the profession of mercantile pursuits, -travelled along with <span class="person">Shídósh</span>, the son of -<span class="person">Anósh</span>, were -of the Yekanah Binan sect.</p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p4"><span class="sc">The fifth section of the Dabistan</span> describes the -Samrádián sect.—In common language Samrád -means imagination and thought; and the sects thus -named are of many descriptions; the first is that of -the followers of <span class="person">Fartósh</span>, who lived about the commencement -of the Serpent-shouldered <span class="person">Zohak</span>’s reign: -<span class="person">Fartósh</span> followed mercantile pursuits, and his faith -was as follows: this elemental world is merely -idea; the remainder, the heavens, the stars, and -the simple uncompounded beings actually exist. -<a name="Page_196" id="Page_196"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 196</span> -The holders of this opinion are called the <dfn>Fartoshíán</dfn>.</p> - -<p>The second are the <span class="title">Farshídíyah</span>, so called from <span class="person">Farshíd</span>, -the son of <span class="person">Fartósh</span>: he asserted that the heavens -and the stars are also ideal, and that the simple uncompounded -beings only have actual existence.</p> - -<p>The next are the <span class="title">Farírajíyah</span>, so called from <span class="person">Faríraj</span>, -the son of <span class="person">Farshid</span>: his opinion was that the -simple uncompounded beings, that is, intelligences -and souls, also have no existence, which is the attribute -of the necessarily self-existent God alone, and -that all besides is ideal, appearing only to exist in -consequence of the essence of that sole existence.</p> - -<p>The next are the <span class="title">Faramandíyah</span>, thus named from -<span class="person">Faramand</span>, the disciple of <span class="person">Faríraj</span>: he says, if any -person exists, that person knows that the elements, -heavens, stars, intelligences, and souls are the Almighty; -and what people call the necessarily self-existent -God has no being, although we, through -imagination (idea), suppose him to exist; which he -certainly does not. According to the testimony of -the sage <span class="person">Amr Khaiam</span>:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“The Creator in this aged world is as a vase,</div> - <div class="i0">Which is internally water and externally ice;</div> - <div class="i0">Resign to children this trifling about infidelity and faith;</div> - <div class="i0">Remove from the place where God is only a letter.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>They said to him: “How dost thou prove this -idea?” he answered:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“By means of the solar light we can see: but where is the sun?”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 197</span> -Thus, according to them, the Almighty is only -an idea of the imagination: the people of this sect -are now mixed up with the Moslems, and go about -in the garb of the faithful: according to them a person -named <span class="person">Kámkár</span>, one of the ascetics of this sect, -who lived in the reign of sultan <span class="person">Mahmud of -Ghiznah</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_373" id="fnanchor_373"></a><a href="#footnote_373" class="fnanchor">[373]</a></span> -composed a poetical treatise, and compiled -narratives, proofs, and revelations conformable to -his tenets; assigning to his faith a superiority over -all other systems, after this manner: that, whatever -devout persons have recorded in their respective -creeds concerning the existence of God, the greatness -of the empyreal sphere, the extent of the angelic -world, or concerning paradise, hell, the bridge -of judgment, the resurrection of the dead, the -interrogatory and -reply,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_374" id="fnanchor_374"></a><a href="#footnote_374" class="fnanchor">[374]</a></span> -the appearing before God, -the rejection of tradition, eternity, and the creation -of the world, is all correct in this creed; as all becomes -evident to the idea of their professor through -the existence of idea; with respect to which they -thus express themselves: “by means of idea, they -<a name="Page_198" id="Page_198"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 198</span> -behold the ideal.” In proof of his system, he -farther says: “Self cannot be ignorant of self.” -But in truth they are ignorant of their own identity, -and understand not in what “self” consists: some -of them maintain, that the being called man and -endowed with voice and speech, is an incorporeal -essence joined to the body; the relations of thought -and action resulting merely from its entrance or -descent into body: notwithstanding this principle, -they differ greatly among themselves respecting the -eternity and creation of their own souls. In like -manner, some have also denied the simple uncompoundedness -of the intellectual soul, and have spoken -largely against that doctrine; consequently, as they -are unacquainted with their own identity, what can -they know about the heavens, stars, intelligences, -and God? and it becomes not that one should know -nothing about himself, but that he exists not. Kámkár, -in his treatise, has collected many amusing -anecdotes respecting the Samrádián sect, of which -the following is an instance: a Samradian once said -to his steward: “The world and its inhabitants have -no actual existence; they merely have an ideal -being.” The servant, on hearing this, took the -first favorable opportunity to conceal his master’s -horse, and when he was about to ride, brought him -an ass with the horse’s saddle. When the Samrádián -asked, “Where is the horse?” the servant replied, -<a name="Page_199" id="Page_199"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 199</span> -“Thou hast been thinking of an idea: there -was no horse in being.” The master answered, -“It is true:” he then mounted the ass, and having -rode for some time, he suddenly dismounted, and -taking the saddle off the ass’s back, placed it on the -servant’s, drawing the girths on tightly; and having -forced the bridle into his mouth, he mounted him -and flogged him along vigorously. The servant, in -piteous accents, having exclaimed: “What is the -meaning of this conduct?” the Samrádián replied: -“There is no such thing as a whip; it is merely -ideal; thou art only thinking of some illusion:” -after which the steward repented and restored the -horse.</p> - -<p>In another tale it is recorded that a Samrádián, -having obtained in marriage the daughter of a -wealthy lawyer, she, on finding out her husband’s -creed, proposed to have some amusement at his -expense. One day the Samradian brought in a -bottle of pure wine, which during his absence she -emptied of its contents and filled it up with water; -when the time for taking wine came round, she -poured out water instead of wine into a gold cup -which was her own property. The Samrádián -having observed, “Thou hast given me water instead -of wine,” she answered, “It is only ideal; -there was no wine in existence.” The husband -then said: “Thou hast spoken well; present me -<a name="Page_200" id="Page_200"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 200</span> -the cup, that I may go to a neighbour’s house and -bring it back full of wine.” He therefore took -out the gold cup, which he sold, and concealing the -money, instead of the gold vase brought back an -earthen vessel full of wine. The wife, on seeing this, -said, “What hast thou done with the golden cup?” -he replied, “Thou art surely thinking about some -ideal golden cup:” on which the woman greatly -regretted her witticism.</p> - -<p>As to those sectaries who assert that the world -exists only in idea, the author of this work saw -several in Lahore, in the year of the Hejirah 1048, -A. D. 1637. The first was <span class="person">Kám Jóí</span>, who composed -the following distichs on <span class="person">Faríraj</span>:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Thou knowest that every thing is ideal,</div> - <div class="i0">If the Almighty has given thee illumination!</div> - <div class="i0">The mention even of ideality proceeds from idea;</div> - <div class="i0">The very idea itself is nothing more than ideal.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>It is to be noted that <dfn>Samrád</dfn> and <dfn>Samwád</dfn> are -applied to fancy or idea. <span class="person">Ismail Sufi</span>, of -<span class="place">Ardistan</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_375" id="fnanchor_375"></a><a href="#footnote_375" class="fnanchor">[375]</a></span> -has -poetically expressed himself to the same purport in -what is styled the mixed Persian:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0">“I am about to mention something although remote from reason;</div> - <div class="i2">Listen carefully: but if not, mercy still awaits thee:</div> - <div class="i2">This world is ideal; and ideality itself is but idea:</div> - <div class="i2">This existence which I call ideal, that likewise is idea.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 201</span> -The second person treated of in the Samrad Namah -of Kámkár was <span class="person">Nék Khoy</span>; the third was <span class="person">Shád -Késh</span>; and the fourth, <span class="person">Máhyár</span>: they were all engaged -in commercial pursuits, and styled Moslem or true -believers.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_373" id="footnote_373"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_373"><span class="muchsmaller">[373]</span></a> - Mahmud, the son of Sebekteghin, was the first monarch of the dynasty -of Ghiznah, the foundation of which had been laid by his father. During -a reign of 33 years (from 997 to 1030, A. D.) he made twelve expeditions -to India, and established his domination in the western part of this -country, out of which he possessed a still greater empire, which to the -north-west extended over the whole of Persia, and was limited on the -north-east by the river Oxus.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_374" id="footnote_374"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_374"><span class="muchsmaller">[374]</span></a> - See about it hereafter the sixth chapter, which treats of the religion -of the Musulmans.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_375" id="footnote_375"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_375"><span class="muchsmaller">[375]</span></a> - Upon Ismail Sofi, see <a href="#footnote_285">note</a> -<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 52, 53. Ardistan or Ardastan is a town -of the province called Icbal, or Persian Irak, 36 leagues distant - from Ispahan.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p4"><span class="sc">The sixth section of the Dabistan</span> describes the -tenets of the <span class="title">Khodaiyan</span>.—This sect are followers of -<span class="person">Khodádád</span>, a Mobed, who lived during the decline of -Jemshid’s power and the usurpation of Zohak. -Khodádád held intelligences and souls to be simple -uncompounded beings, and the stars and heavens to -be the companions of God; each of which, in proportion -to its proximity to the Almighty beyond -other created beings, is so much more elevated in -dignity: notwithstanding which we are not to account -any being, whether the simple uncompounded -or material, as a mediator or promoter between us -and God; neither is there any occasion for prophets, -because through the medium of reliance, the seeking -out of God is attained, and we are to serve God -alone. Among those who held these opinions in -Lahore, in the year of the Hejirah 1049 (A. D. 1639) -were seen <span class="person">Kamus</span> and <span class="person">Fartúsh</span>, both merchants.</p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p4"><span class="sc">The seventh section of the Dabistan</span> describes the -system of the Rádíán.—The chief of this sect was -<span class="person">Rád Gúnah</span>, one of the eminently brave, a lion-like -<a name="Page_202" id="Page_202"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 202</span> -hero, who, to beneficent acts and abstinence from -cruelty to animals, joined the dignity of knowledge; -he enjoyed distinguished honor and rank about the -end of Jamshíd’s reign and the commencement of -Zohák’s usurpation: his opinion is, that God is the -same as the sun, whose bounty extends to all beings; -and that the fourth heaven, by reason of its constituting -the true centre of the seven heavens, is the -seat of his glory and as his essence is pure good, -his place must also be regarded as a proof of his -goodness: besides this, his grace extends alike to -all bodies, whether superior or inferior: moreover, -as the heart, which is the sovereign of the body, is -settled in the midst of the breast, such is also the -rule and custom observed by renowned princes to -fix the seat of government in the centre of their -realms, so that their bounty as well as severity may -be equally extended over the whole community; -and, by such a measure, the repose of the people -and the due regulations of the Rayas may be promoted. -He asserted that the spirit of the heavens, -the stars, and the three kingdoms of nature proceed -from the solar spirit, and that their bodies return to -the light of his body; that is, the virtuous return to -him or some of the stars approximating to his glory, -whilst sinners remain in the elemental world. He -at first communicated these opinions secretly to his -friends, but promulgated them fearlessly during the -<a name="Page_203" id="Page_203"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 203</span> -reign of Zohák. In the year of the Hejirah 1052 -(A. D. 1642), the author, whilst journeying from -Panjab to Kabul, met at the station of <span class="place">Ráwal Bundí</span> -two persons of this creed, and whose names were -<span class="person">Hormuzd</span> and <span class="person">Tírah Késh</span>, who were skilled in all -arts, abstinent, and remote from hurting any living -being.</p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p4"><span class="sc">The eighth section of the Dabistan</span> treats of the -<span class="title">Shídrangíán</span> creed.—<span class="person">Shídrang</span>, a champion of Iran, -who in battle was regarded as the acknowledged -chief of the marshallers of armies, and joined profound -knowledge in science to bravery in the field, -always turned away most studiously from doing -injury to the creatures of God. He appeared about -the middle of Zohák’s reign, and soothed the serpents -between the usurper’s shoulders. Shídrang -unceasingly invited the people to adopt his faith, -and had many followers: he maintained that <dfn>Khoy</dfn> -and <dfn>Manish</dfn>, “disposition and constitution” or nature, -to be God; according to his system, the state -of man and other animals resembles that of herbage, -which, when scattered about or dissolved, grows up -again. A merchant, named <span class="person">Píl Ázár</span>, who belonged -to this sect, was met by the author in Kashmir in -the year of the Hejirah 1040 (A. D. 1631).</p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p4"><span class="sc">The ninth section</span> explains -the <span class="title">Paikárián</span> creed.—<span class="person">Paikár</span> -<a name="Page_204" id="Page_204"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 204</span> -was a virtuous sage from Iran, who appeared -about the middle of Zohák’s reign. He thus addressed -his disciples: “The Almighty is the same -as fire, from the effulgence of which stars have -been formed, and the heavens from its smoke; -as fire is both hot and dry, from its heat proceeded -the air, which is hot and humid; and from -the humidity of the air came water, which is cold -and humid; also from the coldness of water proceeded -the earth, which is cold and dry; and from -these conjointly came the compound productions, -both perfect and imperfect.” Two individuals of -this sect, <span class="person">Paikár Pazhuh</span> -and <span class="person">Jahan Navard</span>, who were -unequalled in drawing out astronomical tables, -painting, and inlaying, were met by the writer in the -year 1059 (A. D. 1649) in Gujarát, in the district of -Panjab.</p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p4"><span class="sc">The tenth section of the Dabistan</span> explains the -<span class="title">Míláníán</span> system.—<span class="person">Mílán</span> -was one of the brave champions -of Iran and contemporary with Paikár; he -exhorted many people to adopt his faith, which was -as follows: “The air is the truly self-existent God, -as it is both hot and humid; from its heat proceeded -fire, and from its humidity, water; from -the effulgence of fire came forth the stars; from -its smoke the heavens (as before mentioned); -and from the frigidity of water proceeded the -<a name="Page_205" id="Page_205"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 205</span> -earth.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_376" id="fnanchor_376"></a><a href="#footnote_376" class="fnanchor">[376]</a></span> -One of this sect was <span class="person">Rohám</span>, who passed -under the designation of a draughtsman; he was in -truth a painter possessed of European skill; the hand -of Bahzad<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_377" id="fnanchor_377"></a><a href="#footnote_377" class="fnanchor">[377]</a></span> -and the finger of Mani,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_378" id="fnanchor_378"></a><a href="#footnote_378" class="fnanchor">[378]</a></span> -who never remained -<a name="Page_206" id="Page_206"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 206</span> -long in one place. In the year of the Hejirah -1040 (A. D. 1630) the author beheld him in -Kashmir, in the house of <span class="person">Shídosh</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_376" id="footnote_376"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_376"><span class="muchsmaller">[376]</span></a> - Vitruvius (who lived shortly before <abbr title="Jesus Christ">J. C.</abbr>) -says (<abbr title="One four Præfatio">I. iv. Præf.</abbr>): <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Thales -Milesius omnium rerum principium Aquam est professus, Heraclitus -Ignem, Magorum sacerdotes, Aquam et Ignem.</span> As to the earth proceeding -from the frigidity of water, we read in Macrobius (In Somno -<abbr title="Scipio One one">Scip. I. 1</abbr>) -what follows: <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“Terra est sicca et frigida: -aqua vero frigida et humecta -est; hæc duo elementa, licet sibi et per siccum humectumque contraria -sint, per frigidum tamen commune junguntur.”</span>—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_377" id="footnote_377"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_377"><span class="muchsmaller">[377]</span></a> - Bahzad was a celebrated painter.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_378" id="footnote_378"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_378"><span class="muchsmaller">[378]</span></a> - In the Desátír (English <abbr title="translation">transl.</abbr>, -<abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 188, 1889) it is stated that Mani -came into Iran during the reign of Ardeshir, and made himself notorious -by curious paintings and a new doctrine which he exhibited: he permitted -the killing of harmless animals, and forbade all intercourse with women. -After a controversy upon these two points with the king Shapur, he was -driven out of the court, and then lapidated and torn to pieces by the -people of the town. According to Sharistani, Mani was the son of Fáten -or Fater; according to Mohammed Ben Ishak, his father was Fettak Ben -Ebi Berdsâm. He was born about the year 240 of our era, but his birthplace -is differently stated to have been in Persia, in Babylonia, in Nishapúr, -in Khorossan. He is reputed as a learned man, as will be shewn in a -subsequent note. He appeared at the court of king Shápur, the son of Ardeshir -Babegan, but inhabited chiefly Turkistan. As a painter, he exhibited -a set of pictures, called <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">ارتنگ</span>, -<span class="trans">artang</span>; or <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">ارژنگ</span>, -<span class="trans">arzhank</span>; or -<span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">ارچنگ مانی</span>, <span class="trans">archang Máni</span>, -which he said he had brought from -heaven, where he pretended to have dwelt, whilst in reality he was concealed -in a cavern during one year. The baron Hammer Purgstal suggests -that the <dfn>artang</dfn> might have been a banner or ensign, upon which astronomical -or cabalistical figures were represented, and which the Mongols -and Buddhists used to call <span class="title">Máni</span> (see -<abbr title="Jahrbuch der Literatur" lang="de" xml:lang="de">Jahrb. der Lit.</abbr>, for April, May, -June, 1840, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 28). Máni was besides a skilful musician, and inventor of -a musical instrument, called <span class="trans">âu´d</span> by the Arabs, -<span class="trans">chelys</span> by the Greeks. -He was put to death by order of king Bahram, the son of Hormuz, about -the year 278; by some authors his life and death are placed later.—See -about Máni, <cite>Hyde</cite>, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 282, 290, -and <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Beausobre, Histoire critique de -Manichée</cite>.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p4"><span class="sc">The eleventh section</span> describes the system of the -followers of <span class="person">Álár</span>.—<span class="person">Alar</span> -was a native of Iran, celebrated -for his extensive knowledge, who lived in -reputation and dignity about the end of Zohák’s -reign, under whose command he distinguished himself -in the erection of forts and other architectural -works. His belief was, that God is the same as -water, from the ebullition of which proceeded fire; -from the fire came forth the heavens and the stars (as -before stated); from the humidity of water proceeded -the air, and from its frigidity, the earth. To this -sect belonged <span class="person">Andarímán</span>, who was well skilled in -the management of the bow, archery, wielding the -lance, horsemanship, and other military accomplishments; -he gave instructions in these sciences to the -sons of great men, in which occupation he passed -his life. In the year of the Hejirah 1040 (A. D. 1630) -the author met him in Kashmir at the house of <span class="person">Shidosh</span>. -To this sect also belonged <span class="person">Mílád</span>, who possessed -consummate skill in writing, and was held in -great respect by men of high station: he was in truth -<a name="Page_207" id="Page_207"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 207</span> -unequalled in the recitation of histories, the narration -of stories and romantic tales. The author -enjoyed his society also in Kashmir.</p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p4"><span class="sc">The twelfth section</span> treats concerning -the <span class="title">Shidabian</span> -faith.—<span class="person">Shádíb</span> who lived about the end of -<span class="person">Zohák</span>’s -reign, was an eminent physician of Iran, held -in great estimation by nobles and princes. He maintained -that the self-existent lord is the same with -the earth, from the dry propensity of which was -produced fire; and from fire the heavens and stars, -as before mentioned; from its frigidity proceeded -water; from the humidity of which was formed the -air; and when the four elements were mixed together, -the three kingdoms of nature were then manifested. -The physician <span class="person">Mihrán</span> was also of this sect. -In the year 1018 of the Hejirah (A. D. 1638) the -author joined him, and travelled in his society from -Lahore to Kashmir. Among those who held these -tenets was one named <span class="person">Khákí</span>, who followed the profession -of a merchant and possessed great wealth: -him the author met in Lahore. In that same year -and in the same place, he became acquainted with -a young man named <span class="person">Shír</span>, who excelled in writing -the Nishki and Taalik characters, and was one of the -chosen followers of <span class="person">Shídáb</span>.</p> - -<p class="p4"><span class="sc">The thirteenth section</span> describes the system of -<a name="Page_208" id="Page_208"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 208</span> -the <span class="title">Akhshíyán</span> sect.—The Mobed -<span class="person">Akhshí</span> was by origin -a Persian, possessed of great knowledge, and full -of kindness towards the creatures of God; he was -contemporary with <span class="person">Shídáb</span>, and promulgated his -sentiments openly, inviting all men to embrace his -faith: he maintained God to be the essence of the -elements; so that when people say, “God is not -visible,” this implies the elemental essence, which -presents no form to the sight; when they assert the -ubiquity of God, they style that the essence, as he is -every where under his fourfold form; their proposition -of all things excepting God being perishable, -means that the elements admit of change, but that -their essence remains for ever in the same state. -They hold the sun to be the source of fire and of the -other stars, such as the falling and shooting stars, -comets with tails, etc. One of those sectaries was -a person named <span class="person">Shídáb</span>, whom the author met in -the costume of a merchant, in Kashmir in the year of -the Hejirah 1040 (A. D. 1631), and from whom he -heard what has now been written, and which was -partly recited out of the book of <span class="title">Akshí</span>. The same -<span class="person">Shídáb</span>, called also <dfn>Shams-ud-dîn</dfn>, or “the sun of -faith,” composed a treatise entitled <cite>Rázábád</cite> in -proof of his system, which he demonstrated by texts -of the Koran and the traditions. According to these -sectaries, which became known after the <span class="title">Radiyán</span>, -there is no resurrection nor return to life but after -<a name="Page_209" id="Page_209"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 209</span> -this manner: the seminal principle being derived -from food, when the body of a living creature is dissolved, -it becomes grass and constitutes the food of -some other animal: as to future rewards and punishments, -they enter not into the faith or practice of -this sect: their paradise consists in having fine raiment, -in carousing, riding, sensual enjoyments, and -such like pleasures, which alone they esteem the -chief good; torment, according to them, consists in -being separated from such objects: however, the -founders and followers of this faith carefully avoid -all kind of cruelty towards living creatures.</p> - -<p>According to them, intercourse with daughters, -sisters, mothers, maternal aunts, and their children -is allowable;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_379" id="fnanchor_379"></a><a href="#footnote_379" class="fnanchor">[379]</a></span> -as there can exist no antipathy between -<a name="Page_210" id="Page_210"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 210</span> -the source and what is derived from it: no degree -of relationship in their opinion should be a bar -to the intercourse of the sexes: nay, on the contrary, -it is highly to be commended, as the nearer the degree -of consanguinity, the greater will be the friendship -between the parties.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_380" id="fnanchor_380"></a><a href="#footnote_380" class="fnanchor">[380]</a></span> -They however regard -adultery as highly criminal, unless the husband -should willingly sacrifice his wife’s honor. They in -fact maintain that marriage between any two parties, -however nearly related, is perfectly allowable if the -parties agree among themselves. They also regard -the ceremonial ablutions enjoined by the law as -absurd and unnecessary.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_381" id="fnanchor_381"></a><a href="#footnote_381" class="fnanchor">[381]</a></span> -They also say, that men -assume a particular nature by means of laws and -institutions, and on that account regard good as -evil, and evil as good. When they desire to make -a sacrificial offering, they kill some harmless animal -and count it not a foul crime. Nay, some religionists -who partake of swine’s flesh, scrupulously avoid -that of cows, and <span class="decoration">vice versâ</span>. Whoever shall appeal -to the intelligence, which is the gift of God, will be -convinced that our discourse is true; that is, all we -<a name="Page_211" id="Page_211"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 211</span> -have narrated from the fifth chapter to the present. -The professors of this belief are mixed up with the -Muhammedans, and travel about under that mask, -assuming the name of true believers, but having a -distinct appellation for their peculiar creed; they are -scattered over Iran and Turan, remote from and -averse to the fire-worshippers.</p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_379" id="footnote_379"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_379"><span class="muchsmaller">[379]</span></a> - According to Philo and to Diogenes Laertius, the Persians used to -marry their mothers and sisters. Alexander abolished these incestuous -marriages (see <cite>Brisson</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 290). We -know from Herodotus (<abbr title="One">I</abbr>: 111) that -Cambyses married his sister Atossa. According to Strabo, the law permitted -the Magians union with their mothers. Plutarch, in the life of Artaxerxes, -relates that this king took to wife his two daughters Atossa and -Amestris; but his mother Parysatis (<dfn>Pari-dokht</dfn>, “daughter of a fairy”), -at the very time she was engaging him to marry the first of his daughters, -said that he must, in doing so, place himself above the laws of the -country. Zoroaster, in the Zand books, recommends but the marriages -between the children of brothers and sisters as actions deserving heaven. -We observe that the author of the Dabistan speaks here only of a particular -sect, the custom of which might have been attributed to the whole -nation of the Persians, but without sufficient foundation. This is confirmed -by the ancient tradition mentioned by Agathius (<abbr title="liber">l.</abbr> 11), who says, -that Ninus killed his own mother Semiramis, because she had proposed to -him an unnatural connection with her. For this same reason, according -to the author just quoted, Artaxerxes is said to have discarded from -him with great indignation his mother Parysatis, although he did not -decline the marriage with his two daughters.—(See <cite>Hyde</cite>, -<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 421.)—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_380" id="footnote_380"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_380"><span class="muchsmaller">[380]</span></a> - The translation of this passage of the original text is not, and ought -not to be, literal, as the author’s expressions are here such as an European -reader would hardly think suitable to common decency.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_381" id="footnote_381"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_381"><span class="muchsmaller">[381]</span></a> - The same observation is also applicable to this passage.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="sc">The fourteenth section</span> of this chapter of the Dabistán -treats of the followers of -<span class="person">Zardúsht</span>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_382" id="fnanchor_382"></a><a href="#footnote_382" class="fnanchor">[382]</a></span>—<span class="person">Farzanah</span> -<a name="Page_212" id="Page_212"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 212</span> -<span class="person">Bahram</span>, the son of <span class="person">Farhad</span>, the Yazdanian, thus -relates in the <span class="title">Sharistan</span>: The <span class="title">Behdín</span> sages relate, that -the Almighty, on creating the holy spirit of Zardúsht, -<a name="Page_213" id="Page_213"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 213</span> -attached it to a tree, when he commenced -the creation of contingent beings in the highest starry -heavens: this signifies the primary intellect, which -is as a tree, the leaves and fruits of which are all -contingent existences; and their assertion concerning -the spirit of Zardúsht being attached to it, means -that his intellectual soul is a ray of the primary intellect, -the perfections of Zardúsht being also an effulgence -proceeding from that same tree. The Mobed -<span class="person">Sarúsh</span>, the Yazdánián, relates: “The teachers of the -<span class="title">Behdín</span> faith have thus said: The father of Zardúsht -had a cow which went forth every morning to the -pasture: having one day come accidentally to some -trees, the fallen leaves of which had become dried -up, she partook of them, and after that occurrence, -never fed on any other provender except the -<a name="Page_214" id="Page_214"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 214</span> -withered leaves of that grove. Zardúsht’s father -partook of the milk supplied by this cow, and the -influence of it being communicated to his wife Dughduyah, -she conceived <span class="person">Zardúsht</span>.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_383" id="fnanchor_383"></a><a href="#footnote_383" class="fnanchor">[383]</a></span> -The object of the -above narrative is to show, that by eating the green -foliage, the vegetable spirit is afflicted; for which -reason the cow fed only on dry leaves, so that no -injury could result to any spirit whatever: although, -in fact, the vegetable spirit is incapable of receiving -either pleasure or pain, it also shows, that unless a -cow be milked, she feels great pain in the udder, -whilst, at the time of milking, no pain ensues from -the operation; also, that the Almighty formed his -prophet’s body out of milk, which in its essence -implies no injury to any living creature. This much -being premised, <span class="person">Zaratusht Bahram</span>, a Mobed of the -religion of Zardusht,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_384" id="fnanchor_384"></a><a href="#footnote_384" class="fnanchor">[384]</a></span> -says: When the world had -been thrown into confusion by the wicked, and was -entirely at the mercy of the demon, God willed to -raise up a prophet of an exalted dignity, which the -<a name="Page_215" id="Page_215"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 215</span> -family of Faridun was alone worthy of filling. In -those days lived a man, by name <span class="person">Purshásp</span>, the son -of <span class="person">Patirásp</span>, descended from -Faridun;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_385" id="fnanchor_385"></a><a href="#footnote_385" class="fnanchor">[385]</a></span> -and his wife’s -name was <span class="person">Doghduyah</span>, a virtuous matron, who was -also of the family of Faridun. These two persons -were selected by the Almighty as the shells for enclosing -the pearl of Zardusht. When five months -of Doghduyah’s pregnancy had elapsed, she one -night beheld in a dream her house enveloped in a -dark cloud, which concealed the splendor of the sun -and moon; and from this cloud were raining down -the noxious and rapacious creatures of earth and -air; the boldest of these animals having rent open -Doghduyah’s womb, took out the infant, which -he held in his talons, and the other wild beasts -gathered around him. Doghduyah in her alarm -wished to cry out, but Zardusht prevented her, -saying: “the just God befriends me; entertain -no apprehensions.” She consequently held her -<a name="Page_216" id="Page_216"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 216</span> -peace. That instant she beheld a shining mountain -which descended from heaven and rent the black -cloud asunder; on which the noxious animals began -to fly away. When the mountain approached -nearer, there came forth from it a youth shining all -over, bearing in one hand a luminous branch, and -in the other the volume sent by the just God. He -next hurled that volume towards the beasts, on -which they all departed from the house, excepting -three; a wolf, a lion, and a tiger: the youth then -smote these with the luminous branch, so that they -were consumed by fire; after this, taking Zardusht, -he restored him to his mother’s belly, and said to -her: “Fear not! grieve not! for God himself is -thy son’s guardian: this honored child shall be -the prophet of the just God!” The youth then -disappeared, and Doghduyah awaking, rose up that -gloomy night, and hastening to a neighbouring seer -who was skilled in the interpretation of dreams, -related her -vision.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_386" id="fnanchor_386"></a><a href="#footnote_386" class="fnanchor">[386]</a></span> -The interpreter answered: -“Through this sun-resembling child, the world -shall be filled with thy fame; depart, and bring -hither the calculation of thy nativity for my inspection.” -She performed his command; and the -interpreter on examining it said: “During three -<a name="Page_217" id="Page_217"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 217</span> -days keep this secret concealed from all; return -hither on the fourth day, and receive the answer -to thy demands.” She did so; and on the -fourth day came to the astrologer, who smiled on -beholding her, and having carefully considered the -sidereal influences, turned to the interpretation of -the dream, saying: “The night on which thou -beheldest that vision, the unborn child had completed -five months and twenty-three days; on his -issuing forth to the couch of existence, his illustrious -name shall be Zardusht; by him shall the -enemies of the faith be destroyed; but they will -previously oppose him in battle, and put in practice -every hostile measure; from the evil doers -thou shalt feel much affliction, such as thou didst -witness from the wild beasts of the vision.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“At last victorious and rejoiced in heart thou shalt become,</div> - <div class="i0">And through this unborn child feel all a mother’s joy.</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">Next thou beheldest a youth descending from the -sixth heaven with the glittering branch of a tree; -that was <dfn>Farrah-i-Izad</dfn>, ‘the splendor of God,’ -the warder of evils from thy son; the written -volume in his hand is the emblem of the prophetic -office, by which he is to obtain the victory over -all foes; the three wild beasts which remained -behind are the type of a powerful evil-disposed -enemy, who by wiles will endeavour to destroy -Zardusht, but who shall be finally discomfited; -<a name="Page_218" id="Page_218"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 218</span> -and there shall be a prince to promulgate the -faith: through his might shall Zardusht become -sovereign of this world and the next. O Doghduyah! -paradise is the recompense of obedience -to Zardusht, and hell is the reward of those who -avert the face from him. Would to heaven that -I could live in the days of his mission, to exhibit -my zeal for his eminent dignity.” Doghduyah -then said to the interpreter and astrologer: -“How hast thou found out the circumstance of the -exact period of my pregnancy?” To this he -replied: “Through the power of knowledge of the -stars, and the perusal of ancient records, which -give an account of his auspicious existence.” -Doghduyah, on her return home, told this event to -<span class="person">Purshasp</span>, that he might communicate it to <span class="person">Patírasp</span>; -on which both parents joined in praising the Almighty. -Zaradusht, on issuing forth into the abode -of existence, laughed aloud at the moment of his -birth,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_387" id="fnanchor_387"></a><a href="#footnote_387" class="fnanchor">[387]</a></span> -so that the women of the neighbourhood -who were there assembled heard the sound of his -laugh, and even his father, <span class="person">Purshasp</span>,</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Said to himself, he must surely be an emanation of God,</div> - <div class="i0">All, with the exception of him, weep on coming into the world.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 219</span> -He then gave him the name of -Zaratusht,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_388" id="fnanchor_388"></a><a href="#footnote_388" class="fnanchor">[388]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Thus the dream-interpreter’s word was verified.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>All the women became jealous at the laugh of -Zaradusht, and this wonderful occurrence was -spread abroad, until it came to the hearing of <span class="person">Darán -Sarún</span>, the king of that region, who gloried in the -practice of magic and the worship of Ahriman. He -had information of the appearance of Zaratusht, and -it was known from the historians and astronomers -that he will reveal a better religion and destroy that -of Ahriman. He therefore hastened to the pillow of -Zaradusht, and commanding him to be taken out of -the cradle, and putting his hand to his sword, prepared -to cut off the child’s head; but that instant -his hand was dried up, so that he left the house in -pain and affliction; on which all the magicians and -worshippers of Ahriman (the only worship which prevailed -at that time) became quite alarmed. The magicians -then formed a mountain of wood, naphtha, -and sulphur, and having set it on fire, threw into -the midst of it Zaradusht, whom they had by force -taken from his father, and hastened with this intelligence -to their king: but, through the aid of God,</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“The devouring flame became as water,</div> - <div class="i0">In the midst of which slumbered the pearl of Zardusht.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 220</span> -On learning this, Zaradusht’s mother hurried to -the desert, and taking her honored son out of the -embers, bore him secretly home. After many days, -when the account of his deliverance was published -abroad, the magicians, evil spirits, and demons -again bore Zardusht away, and threw him into a -narrow place, a thoroughfare for the passage of -oxen, that he should be exposed to be bruised and -trampled under foot. Through the goodness of God, -a powerful cow came in front, and, standing still, -took Zardusht between her fore feet, and drove off -with her horns whatever cow came in that direction: -when the whole had passed, she also went to join -them; and Doghduyah, after great search, having -discovered her honored son, took him home: when -this intelligence came to Dúransarún, he commanded -them to expose Zardusht in a far narrower defile -through which horses were to pass; but, owing to -divine aid, a mare advanced before the others, and -standing at the child’s head kept a strict watch over -him, and Doghduyah, after encountering great -hardship, bore her fortunate offspring home. On -learning this occurrence, Dúransarún ordered persons -to repair to the dens of the ravening wolves, -and having slaughtered their cubs, then expose Zardusht -in the same place, in order that the dams -out of revenge might tear him to pieces. At night, -when the troop of wolves returned to their lairs, -<a name="Page_221" id="Page_221"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 221</span> -they beheld their cubs slaughtered and weltering in -blood, and at the same time finding an infant crying -out, they all hurried towards him; the chief wolf -and the boldest of them, having rushed on to devour -Zardusht, his mouth became as sewn up: at this -miracle the wolves were altogether alarmed, and -seated themselves like so many nurses around the -infant’s head; at the same time there also came two -sheep from the mountain region, which applied their -teats filled with milk to the lips of Zardusht: thus -the sheep and the wolf lay down in one place. -With the morning dawn, his mother, after anxious -seeking and searching, came to that frightful place, -raised up the exalted prophet, and having poured -out her gratitude to God, proceeded with exultation -to her home.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_389" id="fnanchor_389"></a><a href="#footnote_389" class="fnanchor">[389]</a></span> -The magicians, on hearing this -miracle, became quite despondent; they assembled -to devise some remedy, and formed a council for -the purpose of deliberating, when a celebrated magician -named <span class="person">Purtarúsh</span> and -<span class="person">Parantarúsh</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_390" id="fnanchor_390"></a><a href="#footnote_390" class="fnanchor">[390]</a></span> -said to them: -“Zardusht is not to be destroyed by your plans, -for God befriends him, and the angel <dfn>Far-i-Izad</dfn> -‘the splendor of God,’ is ever with him. Bahman -<a name="Page_222" id="Page_222"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 222</span> -(who is the same as Jabriîl) has borne Zardusht to -the presence of the Almighty; and God having -imparted to him the knowledge of all the secrets -of existence, sends him forth as a prophet. A just -sovereign will co-operate with him in promulgating -his faith, and every vestige of enchanters -and Deeves shall be cut off from the earth.” -The father of Zardusht said one day to <span class="person">Partarúsh</span>: -“Give me some account of Zardusht’s star and its -rise; tell me also why he laughed at the time of -his birth”. <span class="person">Partarúsh</span> replied: “Thy son Zardusht -is to be a chief, as all the happy spheres afford -him aid; this offspring of auspicious career will -conduct the creatures of God in the true way; -promulgate the <span class="title">Zandavasta</span>;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_391" id="fnanchor_391"></a><a href="#footnote_391" class="fnanchor">[391]</a></span> -destroy the demon -<a name="Page_223" id="Page_223"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 223</span> -and enchanters, and finally king Gushtasp shall -embrace his faith.” This announcement gave -great delight to Purshasp.</p> - -<p><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 224</span> -At this time there lived an aged saint named <span class="person">Barzinkaroos</span>, -of profound experience and clear discernment; -this sage having come to the house of Purshasp, -<a name="Page_225" id="Page_225"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 225</span> -entreated that he might be allowed to bring -up Zardusht, and acquire glory by his education. -Purshasp consented to this proposal, and entrusted -the infant to the holy sage.</p> - -<p><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 226</span> -When Zardusht had attained his seventh year, -Purtarush, the chief of the magicians, came along -with Duransanun to the child’s abode; and made -<a name="Page_227" id="Page_227"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 227</span> -so great a display of enchantments, terrific, and -fearful sights, that all the people fled out of the -house; but Zardusht, through the aid of God, -felt no alarm and moved not, so that the magicians -went away filled with affright and disappointment. -After some time Zardusht became ill, at which news -all the magicians were greatly delighted; their chief -Partarósh came, with enchantments and medicine -mixed up with <dfn>mina</dfn>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_392" id="fnanchor_392"></a><a href="#footnote_392" class="fnanchor">[392]</a></span> -to Zardusht’s pillow and said: -“The swallowing of this medicine will render thy -body tranquil and deliver thee from pain.” The -illuminated mind of Zardusht saw through the machination, -and taking the medicine from him, poured -it on the ground, and at the same time telling him -about the <dfn>mina</dfn> mixed up with the portion, said:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Shouldst thou in a different guise conceal thy violence,</div> - <div class="i0">I can again recognise thee, O thou full of deceit!</div> - <div class="i0">Thy description is furnished to me by that God</div> - <div class="i0">Through whose command the world is preserved.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">The magicians consequently again returned back -mortified at the results of their wicked plot. They -say that in those times they accounted no system -superior to that of magic, and that the demon held -public intercourse with persons of that class so that -they obtained it from Iblis without the intervention -of enchantment.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Mankind then praised the foul demon,</div> - <div class="i0">As they now do the God of purity.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 228</span> -Nay, Purshásp, the father of Zardusht, followed that -path; one day having invited Duránsarún, Párántárúsh, -and many more magicians to a feast, he made -the suitable arrangements, and when the repast was -ended, he said to Párántárúsh, the chief of the magicians: -“Through the excellence of enchantment, -whereby our hearts are gladdened and our necks -exalted, thy noble person at this period is the -spiritual guide of all magicians.” Zardusht, being -indignant at this speech, said to his father: -“Abandon this erroneous way, and turn to the faith -of God: hell must finally be the abode of magicians -and enchanters.” These words greatly -incensed Purtarúsh, who replied: “Of what consequence -art thou before thy father! The intelligent -of the earth, and the great men of the habitable -world dare not address such insolence to me! -Art thou not afraid of me? Dost thou not know -me? For this thy insolence I shall spread amongst -mankind such calumnies and lies respecting thy -creed, that thou must remain in obscurity. What -is thy power that, without courtesy, thou darest -slight my dignity!</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“May thy name be more degraded than that of all other men!</div> - <div class="i0">May no desire of thy heart be ever accomplished!”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">Zardusht replied: “O son of earth! the lie thou -utterest respecting my creed will render thyself -before God and man the butt of censure: in retaliation -<a name="Page_229" id="Page_229"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 229</span> -I shall tell, nothing but truth concerning -thee, and overpower thee by just arguments and -proofs.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“By order of the righteous God’s messenger,</div> - <div class="i0">I shall turn thy empire upside down.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">All who were present, as well as the magicians, -remained in astonishment at such a stripling’s great -intellect, so that Párántárúsh left the house and hastened -home, covered with confusion and disgrace: -that night he fell sick, and his people also being -attacked by illness at the same time, were hurried -along with him to the house of -retribution.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_393" id="fnanchor_393"></a><a href="#footnote_393" class="fnanchor">[393]</a></span></p> - -<p>When the honored age of Zardusht had reached -the fifteenth year, he attached not his heart to this -place of sojourn, neither did he set any value on the -world or its concerns: but fleeing away from wrath -and the pleasures of sense, he with pious fear labored -night and day in the service of God; wherever -he found any one hungry, thirsty, naked, or helpless, -he bestowed on them food, raiment, and the -needful supplies; his piety and sincerity were consequently -renowned amongst all people, although he -withdrew from the public gaze.</p> - -<p>When he had reached the age of thirty, he directed -his face towards Iran, in company with several men -<a name="Page_230" id="Page_230"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 230</span> -and women and some of his own relations; in the -course of this journey, they came to a large expanse -of water, on which there was not a boat to be -found:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_394" id="fnanchor_394"></a><a href="#footnote_394" class="fnanchor">[394]</a></span> -as it is not meet for women to expose their persons, -particularly before strangers, he became anxious -about the means of taking them over in the presence -of their fellow travellers; he therefore poured -out his distress before the God of justice, entreating -from him a passage over that wide expanse of water; -after which, by the order of the Almighty, he crossed -over, with his companions and relations, in such -guise that the soles of their feet only were moistened -by the water; finally, in the end of -<span class="time">Isfandarmaz</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_395" id="fnanchor_395"></a><a href="#footnote_395" class="fnanchor">[395]</a></span> on -the day of <span class="time">Anírán</span>, which is the last day of every -solar month, he reached the confines of Iran. At -that period the people of Iran held a great festival -at which were assembled both high and low, and -therefore Zartusht took his course to that quarter. -At night, whilst alone in some halting place, through -his enlightened spirit he beheld, in a vision, a mighty -army<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_396" id="fnanchor_396"></a><a href="#footnote_396" class="fnanchor">[396]</a></span> -advancing from Bactria, or the West, which -from hostile motives blocked up his road on every -side; in the same place he beheld another army -coming from <dfn>Nimroz</dfn>, or “mid day,” and when both -<a name="Page_231" id="Page_231"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 231</span> -armies came to close quarters with the sword, the -Bactrian or Western troops were put to the rout. -The examiner of the vision thus interpreted it: -“When Zardusht, having been taken into the presence -of God, should discover all the mysteries of -creation, that afterwards, on his return from -heaven, to promulgate the <dfn>Dínbahí</dfn>, or ‘true -faith,’ the Dîvs and Magicians, having found -out his intentions, would with all expedition make -war against him. -<span class="title">Mizumah</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_397" id="fnanchor_397"></a><a href="#footnote_397" class="fnanchor">[397]</a></span> -the angel who attends -the servants of God, on learning this will promote -the better faith, and in consequence the <span class="title">Asta va -zand</span> will be read with a loud voice, and through -this the demons and magicians shall be dispersed -and flee away.” On the interpretation of the -dream, he hastened to the festival, inspired with -great delight.</p> - -<p>When he had returned from the banqueting-place, -he set out about the middle of -<span class="time">Ardíbihist</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_398" id="fnanchor_398"></a><a href="#footnote_398" class="fnanchor">[398]</a></span> on -the <span class="time">Dímihr</span>, the fifteenth day of every solar month, -and came to a deep, broad, and extensive water, -named <span class="title">Dábatí</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_399" id="fnanchor_399"></a><a href="#footnote_399" class="fnanchor">[399]</a></span> -in the <span class="place">Astawasta</span>; there recommending -<a name="Page_232" id="Page_232"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 232</span> -himself to the Lord, he stepped into the water, which -at first rose up to the calf of his legs, then to his -knees, waist, and finally to his neck; which event -was thus interpreted; “the division of the water -into these four portions signifies, that in nine -thousand years the <span class="title">Dínbahí</span>, ‘the true faith,’ shall -be four times renewed; the first time by the agency -of Zardusht, who was sent to promulgate the <span class="person">Bahdín</span>; -the second by <span class="person">Hushídar</span>; the third by <span class="person">Hushídarmáh</span>; -and the fourth by <span class="person">Sarsásh</span>; all four descendants -from Zardusht.”</p> - -<p>When the prophet had gained the opposite shore, -he washed his person as pure as his soul, and putting -on undefiled garments, engaged in -prayer.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_400" id="fnanchor_400"></a><a href="#footnote_400" class="fnanchor">[400]</a></span> -That very day, Bahman, the mightiest of the angels, -(whom the Muhammedans call Jabriel) came robed -in light to Zardusht, and having asked his name, -<a name="Page_233" id="Page_233"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 233</span> -said: “What dost thou most desire in this world?” -Zardusht having answered, “I have no desire but -that of pleasing God; my heart seeks after nothing -but righteousness; and my belief is that thou wilt -guide me to do what is good:” then Bahram replied -“Arise! that thou mayest appear before -God; entreat from his Majesty whatever thou -desirest, from his bounty he will return thee a -profitable answer.” Zardusht then arose, and -according to Bahram’s order shut his eyes for an -instant; on opening them he found himself in the -bright empyreal, where he beheld an assemblage -through whose effulgence his shadow became visible: -from that assemblage to the next, was a distance of -twenty-four paces; and also another assemblage of -beings formed of light waited on by virgins of paradise. -The angels gathered around Zardusht and -warmly greeted him, pointing him out to each other, -until the honored son of -Espintaman<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_401" id="fnanchor_401"></a><a href="#footnote_401" class="fnanchor">[401]</a></span> -came before -God, to whom with joyous heart and trembling -body he addressed the prayers of supplication. It -is necessary to observe here, that the <span class="title">Báhidínian</span>, -“believers of the eternal doctrine,” unanimously -maintain that Bahman assumed the human figure, -and that Zardusht ascended to the heavens in his -<a name="Page_234" id="Page_234"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 234</span> -elemental body; but, according to the creed of the -intelligent Abádián, the matter is thus stated: “By -the coming of Bahman in the human form and -his speaking like a mortal, is meant that the true -essence of man is uncompounded and simple, not -a body nor any thing material; and that, under -such a quality, that is, uncompoundedness, he -manifested himself to Zardusht; and his saying -‘close thy eyes,’ is figurative, and implies the -eradication of the attachments and darkness of -the elemental body; when he thus became a simple -uncompounded existence, he arrived at the -heavens styled the ‘eternal empyrean;’ the first -company of angels signifies the souls on high, -and the second, the existence of the celestial intelligences; -the interrogatories addressed to him by -the angels imply, that when the soul leaves the -upper world, it descends into this lower abode to -encounter wanderings and calamity; but when, -by the attractive influence of Bahman and through -the energy of intelligence, it returns on high, the -angels feel delight on the occasion. He next -ascended to the world of simple uncompounded -beings, and came near God; the delight experienced -by Zardusht signifies, the freedom from -alarm and fear enjoyed in that pure world; and -his bodily tremor is emblematic of the effulgence -of the divine Majesty.” He then asked of the God of -<a name="Page_235" id="Page_235"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 235</span> -justice: “Which of thy servants on earth is superior -to the rest?” God thus answered: “The righteous -professor of righteousness; secondly, he who -to righteousness joins generosity and liberality, -walking unceasingly in the way of righteousness -and withdrawing from evil; thirdly, he who is -friendly to fire and water, to all living and animated -beings; for man, by the knowledge and -practice of this precept, delivers himself from hell -and attains to union with the eternal paradise. -O, Zardusht! whichever of my servants in this -transitory sojourn of existence practises oppression -and cruelty towards my creatures, and averts -his head from obedience to my commands, repeat -thou to such this warning: that unless he desist -from rebellion, he shall dwell in hell to all eternity.” -Zardusht again asked: “O most just God, -impart to me the names of the -<span class="title">Amshásfands</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_402" id="fnanchor_402"></a><a href="#footnote_402" class="fnanchor">[402]</a></span> that -is, of the angels the most acceptable in thy presence; -gladden me by their names and sight; -cause me to hear their discourse; and graciously -enable me to discern the impious -Ahriman,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_403" id="fnanchor_403"></a><a href="#footnote_403" class="fnanchor">[403]</a></span> who -<a name="Page_236" id="Page_236"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 236</span> -turns not to good through his evil nature; give -me power to behold the good and evil of this -world, and its termination; the effect of the -revolving sphere, with the successive production -of modes or the reappearance of things.” When -he had thus laid before the Almighty the secret -wishes of his heart, he received this answer: “I am -<a name="Page_237" id="Page_237"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 237</span> -the author of good; the benevolent and the beneficent; -I neither do evil, nor enjoin it to be committed. -I consent not to wickedness, neither do -I bring calamity on my creatures: evil and wickedness -belong exclusively to Ahriman. It is, -however, incumbent on me to keep in hell to all -eternity the troops of Ahriman in reward for -their deeds: the ignorant only assert that I am the -“author of evil.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_404" id="fnanchor_404"></a><a href="#footnote_404" class="fnanchor">[404]</a></span> -The Almighty then made Zardusht -acquainted with the celestial revolutions and -the motions of the stars, and their good and evil -influences; he also showed him paradise filled with -light, angelic nymphs, palaces, and <span class="title">Amshásfands</span>; -communicating to him at the same time the knowledge -of all mysteries, and teaching him all sciences, -so that he knew every thing from the commencement -of existence to the end of time; he likewise -showed him Ahriman in the gloom of hell, who, on -beholding Zardusht cried aloud: “Turn away from -the faith of God, that thou mayest obtain all thy -desires in this -world.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_405" id="fnanchor_405"></a><a href="#footnote_405" class="fnanchor">[405]</a></span></p> - -<p><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 238</span> -When the Lord had thus instructed Zardusht, he -beheld a mountain of flaming fire, which at the command -of God he traversed without any injury to his -person; they next poured molten brass on his guileless, -silver-like bosom, and not a single hair of his -body was touched; they next opened his stomach, -and taking out all the intestines again replaced -them, on which the wound immediately closed -without leaving a vestige of the incision behind. -The just God then said to Zardusht: “Thou hast -passed over the mountain of fire, and hadst thy -stomach rent open; therefore tell mankind whoever -turns away from the <span class="title">Dínbahí</span>, ‘pure faith,’ -and passes over to Ahriman, in the same manner -shall the blood of his body be poured out; he -shall dwell in the fire, and never attain to the joys -of paradise. Again, the molten brass, which on -contact with thy breast became congealed like ice, -causing thee no injury, is a sign that the nation, -at the suggestion of Ahriman, will turn away from -the faith; and also that when the <span class="title">Dínbahí</span> shall be -promulgated in the world, the high Mobed shall -gird his loins to give them battle.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“The heart of mankind was harassed with doubt,</div> - <div class="i0">However thou knowest this brass was but a sign;</div> - <div class="i0">It is therefore meet that Azarbád, the son of Márasfand,</div> - <div class="i0">Should impart to each individual counsel of every kind;</div> - <div class="i0">This molten brass he should pour on his breast,</div> - <div class="i0">From which no injury shall result to him.</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 239</span> -“So that, on beholding this miracle, all mankind -with heart and soul will follow the right true -road.”</p> - -<p>After this, Zardusht asked of the God of justice: -“In what manner shall thy worshippers celebrate -thy praise and what is to be their Kiblah?” The -Lord answered: “Tell all mankind that every bright -and luminous object is the effulgence of my light; -at the time of worshipping me, let them turn to -that side, in order that Ahriman may flee from -them; in the world there is no existence superior -to light, out of which I have created paradise, the -angelic nymphs, and all that is pleasant, whilst -hell was produced out of darkness.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i2b">“Wherever thou art, and in whichever of the two abodes,</div> - <div class="i0">Dost thou not perceive that either place is formed out of my light?”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>Having thus taught Zardusht the <span class="title">Avesta</span> and the -<span class="title">Zand</span>, he said to him: “Recite this celebrated volume -to king Gushtasp, that through it he may -obtain wisdom; tell him also to attain a perfect -knowledge of me; no one should ever call me the -worker of injustice; command the Mobeds and all -mankind to separate themselves from demons and -magicians.”</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Zardusht then enlarged on the praises of the Almighty Lord.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>When the prophet’s desires and purpose had been -thus completely attained, he was met on his return -<a name="Page_240" id="Page_240"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 240</span> -by the Amshásfand Bahman, the protector and chief -of the sheep, who said to him: “To thee I deliver -the sheep and all herds; tell the Mobeds, sages, -and all men to guard them well; prohibit them -from putting to death calf, lamb, young sheep, -or any other quadruped, as men derive great benefits -from them:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“We must never be guilty of excess in slaughter.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>“I received these flocks from the Almighty, and -now accept them from me; account not my words -as unimportant, but inculcate obedience to them -on young and old:” on which Zardusht accepted -the trust. The Mobed Sarush used to say: “The -Yezdanians maintain that, when Bahman forbade -the killing of young quadrupeds, he well knew it -to be equally wrong to slay the old; first, because -in their youth, although they rendered many services, -they received no wages for their labor; and -secondly, in old age they produce young animals; -consequently, where Zardusht in some passages -holds it lawful to slay animals, but without committing -excess; by the precept is meant, the expulsion -of animal qualities from our existence; and -by avoiding excess is meant, that we should gradually -banish all vile propensities from ourselves, -such as eating to excess, which is an animal quality, -but which cannot be discontinued at once; it -<a name="Page_241" id="Page_241"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 241</span> -therefore becomes necessary to lessen the quantity -of food gradually, as stated by us under the head -of the <span class="title">Sáhí Keshán</span>.”</p> - -<p>After Bahman, the Amshásfand -<span class="person">Ardebihist</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_406" id="fnanchor_406"></a><a href="#footnote_406" class="fnanchor">[406]</a></span> coming -forward, said to Zardusht: “O accepted of God! -bear from me this message to king Gushtasp, and -say to him: ‘To thee have I delivered whatever -relates to fire. Let there be suitable places of -great splendor in every city for the general worship; -appoint stated times and <dfn>Hirbuds</dfn>, or ‘ministers’ -for the purpose of adoration; because -that light is an emanation of the divine effulgence. -Dost thou not perceive how every thing -stands in need of fire, which requires only wood -from the human race?’</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Its body apprehends not death nor the decrepitude of age,</div> - <div class="i0">When thou layest wood within the influence of its sphere.</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>“Such is its property to indicate the truth, that -if thou burn perfumes it diffuses fragrance among -the assembled people: from unpleasant odors a -correspondent effect ensues; it also banishes the -affliction of cold. As fully as God hath delivered -it to me, do I now give it in charge to thee! Whoever -<a name="Page_242" id="Page_242"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 242</span> -turns away from my counsel and advice becomes -the captive of hell, and incurs the displeasure -of God.”</p> - -<p>When Zardusht had departed from Bahman, the -Amshásfand <span class="person">Shahrivar</span> came forward and said to him: -“On thy arrival from the upper to the lower world, -tell men to furbish and polish up their arms, and -always to keep them in good order and readiness; -in the day of battle let them not quit their posts, -but display heroic exertion and not resign their -post to any other.”</p> - -<p><span class="person">Asfandármaz</span> then coming forward, after many -benedictions said to Zardusht: “This is the command -of the Almighty to mankind, let them keep -the earth pure, and remove blood, pollution, and -dead bodies to some uncultivated place.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Among princes, that sovereign is by far the best</div> - <div class="i0">Who exerts himself to improve the face of the earth.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>When Zardusht had departed thence, <span class="person">Khúrdád</span> -advanced, and with benedictions thus addressed -him: “To thy charge I assign all waters of running -streams, rivers, water-courses, rivulets, wells, -and all besides; say thou to mankind:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Through water is the body of every creature maintained in life;</div> - <div class="i0">Through it the face of every tract and region is kept in bloom.</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">“Let them keep dead bodies far removed from it, -and let them not defile it with blood or any dead -<a name="Page_243" id="Page_243"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 243</span> -carcass, as the food dressed with such water furnishes -an unwholesome repast.”</p> - -<p><span class="person">Murdád</span> next came forward and said to Zardusht: -“Let not men heedlessly destroy the vegetable productions -of the earth or pluck them from their -place:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“As these form the delight of both man and beast.</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">“Also, O prophet of God! send Mobeds around the -whole country, and appoint a wise person in -every city to communicate these tidings to all men: -let them understand the <span class="title">Avesta</span>, and bind around -their waist the zone, which is a sign of the pure -faith and constancy in it, and let them endeavor to -keep the four substances (elements) undefiled:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Out of the four elements has the body of every animal</div> - <div class="i0">Been composed by the supreme and just Lord:</div> - <div class="i0">It is therefore necessary to keep them undefiled,</div> - <div class="i0">Accounting them among the choice blessings of God.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>It is to be remembered that the conference of all -these angels with Zardusht was a revelation and -message from God; but there was a more transcendent -dignity in this fact, that the Almighty himself -addressed Zardusht without the intervention of -angels, and imparted to him the mysteries of all -that exists.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_407" id="fnanchor_407"></a><a href="#footnote_407" class="fnanchor">[407]</a></span></p> - -<p><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 244</span> -Zardusht having thus obtained from God the accurate -knowledge of all mysteries, drew near this elemental -world, whilst the magicians and demons, -with a dreadful host, blocked up his road; after -which the chief enchanter and the head of the demons -and his host thus addressed Zardusht: “Keep -the <span class="title">Avesta</span> and <span class="title">Zand</span> concealed; thy incantation, -fraud, and artifice make no impression on us: if -thou knowest us, thou wilt turn away from such -practices.” On hearing this, Zardusht recited -aloud one chapter of the <span class="title">Avesta</span> and <span class="title">Zand</span>; when -these sounds reached the demons, they hid themselves -under ground, and the magicians trembled; -a part of the enchanters died on the spot, and the -remainder implored for mercy.</p> - -<p>The Mobed <span class="person">Surúsh</span>, the Yezdánian, has been heard -to say: “It is recorded in the treatise of <span class="title">Míhín Farúsh</span> -that, according to the doctors of the pure faith, -when Zardusht had thus obtained the victory over -the demons, and was proceeding to an interview -with the great king Gushtasp, there happened to be -two oppressive and infidel kings in his road; these -Zardusht invited to adopt the pure faith and turn -away from their evil practices; but they heeded not -<a name="Page_245" id="Page_245"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 245</span> -his words, he therefore prayed to God, and there -began to blow a mighty wind, which lifted up these -two kings on high and kept them suspended in the -air; the people who came around were astonished -on beholding this sight; the birds also from every -quarter of the sky flocked around the two kings, and -with beaks and talons tore off their flesh until their -bones fell to the -ground.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_408" id="fnanchor_408"></a><a href="#footnote_408" class="fnanchor">[408]</a></span></p> - -<p>Zaratusht, the son of Bahram, says, that when -Zardusht after his victory arrived at the court of -the great king Gushtasp, he called on the name -God, and then sought access to the -sovereign.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_409" id="fnanchor_409"></a><a href="#footnote_409" class="fnanchor">[409]</a></span> He -beheld the first rank, composed of the grandees and -champions of Iran and other regions, standing -around; and above these two ranks of sages, philosophers, -and learned men, who took precedence of -each other in proportion to their knowledge, for this -great king was exceedingly attached to men of science; -he next beheld the monarch of the world -seated on a lofty throne, and his brows encircled -with a costly crown: on which Zardusht in eloquent -language recited the praises of the king.</p> - -<p>Farzánah Bahram, the son of Farhad, of the Yazdanian -<a name="Page_246" id="Page_246"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 246</span> -sect, relates thus in the <cite>Sháristán</cite>: “The doctors -of the pure faith say, that when Zardusht -entered into king Gushtasp’s assembly, he held -in his hand a blazing fire which caused him no -injury; he then transferred that fire to the -king’s hands, which in like manner remained -unhurt; he afterwards gave it into the hands of -others and still no trace of burning appeared; he -next lay down, and ordered molten brass to be -poured on his bosom four different times: although -the molten metal came on his breast, no -bodily injury resulted from -it.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_410" id="fnanchor_410"></a><a href="#footnote_410" class="fnanchor">[410]</a></span> -Zaratusht, the -son of Bahram, adds: The sovereign of Iran having -thus ascertained the dignity of the prophet of the -human race, addressed him with terms of earnest -affection, and ordering a chair to be brought, placed -him in front of the royal throne, above the two -ranks of the philosophers. Zardusht, agreeably to -the king’s command, having taken this seat, manifested -to all the assembly the precious diamonds of -his intellectual stores. The sages and eminent men -of the exterior circles on his right and left entered -on the path of controversy, but were finally refuted, -<a name="Page_247" id="Page_247"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 247</span> -one after another. They say that on this day thirty -of the sages seated on his right, being unable to withstand -the arguments of Zardusht, bore testimony to -his knowledge and truth; and in like manner thirty -of the wise men on his left were overpowered and -convinced. When such sages, who had not their -equals in the seven climates, had been thus confuted, -the illustrious prince called the prophet of the Lord -into his presence, and for further conviction questioned -him on various sciences and the traditions of -old; and having received conclusive answers on all -these points he was struck with amazement. The -great king therefore assigned to the prophet of the -just Lord a dwelling adjacent to his own palace, -and the philosophers departed home with afflicted -hearts. During the whole night they read over -books with each other, and concerted with each other -how they might, the following morning, conduct the -argument and controversy with Zardusht; whilst -the prophet of the Lord on coming to his house, -according to his custom, desisted not until morning -from acts of worship and praise. The following -day, when Zardusht and the philosophers assembled -around the king, whatever the sages advanced -which was not strictly conformable to truth, Zardusht -produced a hundred arguments, both theoretical -and practical, to invalidate the assertion; -and if they demanded a proof of whatever he himself -<a name="Page_248" id="Page_248"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 248</span> -advanced, he adduced a hundred convincing -demonstrations. Gushtasp accordingly increased -the dignity of the Lord’s prophet, and inquired his -name, lineage, and native city; to which questions -Zardusht returned the meet answer, and said: “O -great king, to-morrow is the day of Hormuz, or -the first of the month; command the chiefs of the -military to assemble and all the philosophers to -appear, that I may reduce all to silence, as I have -done this assembly, and give answers which will -dumbfound them; after which I shall execute the -commission with which I am entrusted.”</p> - -<p>Gushtasp issued the requisite order, and they all -returned home with this agreement. Zardusht, -from inclination and habit, continued in supplication -to the Lord; and the wise men said to each other: -“This stranger has twice degraded us wise men, -taken away our reputation, and obtained favor -with the king:” they therefore conferred with -each other how they could most effectually oppose -Zardusht and refute his arguments.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“With this understanding each retired to his own abode,</div> - <div class="i0">And through anxiety not one of them slept all that night.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">On the third day, the nobles, doctors, and wise men -assembled around the king, and Zardusht also advanced -into the company: although the sages and -learned men had mutually combined to confound -him by argument, they were all finally refuted. -<a name="Page_249" id="Page_249"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 249</span> -When the philosophers were no longer able to utter -a word, the superior personages gave place to Zardusht, -on which the prophet of the Lord loosed his -tongue and said to Gushtasp: “I am the envoy of -the Lord the Creator of the heavens, earth, and -stars; the disinterested bestower of daily food to -his servant: he who has brought thee from non-existence -into being and made kings thy servants, -has sent me to thee.” Then taking the <span class="title">Avesta</span> -and <span class="title">Zand</span> out of a case, he added: “This volume -God has given to me, and sent me forth to the -human race with the commandments named -<span class="title">Astawazand</span>, which require implicit obedience; if -thou wilt conform to the commands of God, in -like manner as he has made thee sovereign of the -world, he will also make thee eternally happy in -futurity and paradise; but if thou avert the head -from his command, thou incurrest the displeasure -of the just God; the foundation of thy greatness -shall be rent, and thou shalt finally become a -denizen of hell.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Adopt no line of conduct through the suggestion of a Div.</div> - <div class="i0">From this time forward listen to my commands.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">The great king replied: “What proof dost thou -adduce, and what miracle dost thou perform? -exhibit them, that I may instantly diffuse thy -faith over all the world.” Zardusht said: “One -of my decisive proofs and miraculous works is -<a name="Page_250" id="Page_250"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 250</span> -this volume, on once listening to which thou -shalt never more behold demon or magician: this -volume contains the mysteries of both worlds, -and clearly expounds the revolutions of the stars: -there is no being in existence an account of which -is not found in this book.” The king then -commanded: “Read me a section of this heavenly -volume.” Zardusht having read one chapter, -Gushtasp not feeling a full conviction, said to him: -“Thou hast urged a bold suit; but precipitancy in -such an affair is by no means proper; I shall -devote some days to exploring the nature of the -<span class="title">Zand-Avesta</span>: but in the mean time come thou hither -as usual.” Zardusht then</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Returned to the house assigned him by the king.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>The enraged philosophers also came out and took -counsel with each other about slaying Zardusht. -The following morning, when Zardusht left the -house to go to the king’s palace, he delivered the -key of his apartment to the king’s porter; but the -philosophers so deluded this man, that he gave up -the key secretly to them; on which they opened the -door of the prophet’s apartment, and having put -into bags unclean things which they had collected, -such as blood, hair, a cat’s head, a dog’s head, dead -men’s bones and the like, placed them under his -pillow, and having locked the door, gave the key -back to the porter, previously obliging him to swear -<a name="Page_251" id="Page_251"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 251</span> -to keep the matter altogether secret; after this they -went to the palace, where they beheld Zardusht -seated near the king, who was engaged in reading -the <span class="title">Zand-Avesta</span>,</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Lost in amazement at the characters and words.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>The philosophers said: “The <span class="title">Zand-Avesta</span> is altogether -magic, and this man is a wizard, who by -force of spells has produced an impression on thy -heart, in order to bring evil and confusion all -over the world; but be not thou the wizard’s -ally.” On hearing this, Gushtasp ordered persons -to repair to Zardusht’s house and make a -careful examination; they went and immediately -brought before the king whatever they found in the -house, whether eatables, carpets, dresses, clothes-bags, -etc., all which they opened in the king’s presence; -on this, the talons, hair, and such like impurities, -which had been hidden there by the philosophers, -were exposed to view. The king was -greatly enraged, and said to Zardusht: “This is thy -magic practice.” The prophet of the Lord being -quite astonished, replied: “I have no knowledge of -these things; let his majesty inquire the particulars -from the porter.” The porter on being summoned, -said: “Zardusht closed his door, and not -even wind had access to it.” The king became -quite indignant and said to Zardusht: “They have -not brought these sacks from heaven and hid them -<a name="Page_252" id="Page_252"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 252</span> -under the pillow.” In his rage he threw away -the <span class="title">Avesta-Zand</span>, and sent Zardusht in chains to -prison: there was also a porter appointed to give -him a fixed allowance and keep strict watch. Zardusht -remained in chains both day and night, the -porter bringing him daily a loaf of bread and a -pitcher of water; and one whole week passed in that -manner.</p> - -<p>They relate that Gushtasp had a royal steed called -the “Black Charger,” which the great king mounted -on the day of battle:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“When, mounted on this charger’s back, he advanced to the fight,</div> - <div class="i2">The result of the combat terminated in victory.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">One morning at dawn, the master of the horse -beheld the Black Charger without fore or hind feet, -which he saw were drawn up into his belly; in great -haste he announced this event to the sovereign of -the world. Gushtasp in great affliction hurried to -the stable, summoning thither the veterinary surgeons, -physicians, and learned men, all of whom -exerted themselves in remedies and applications -without any benefit resulting from their exertions. -Through grief the king partook not of food that -day, and the military were sorely afflicted. Zardusht, -who in consequence of the general mourning -had not received his allowance before evening, -became hungry; when the evening had passed, the -porter came and brought the provisions, stating at -<a name="Page_253" id="Page_253"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 253</span> -the same time what had befallen the Black Charger; -on this the prophet of the Lord said to him: “To-morrow -tell the king that I can set this affair to -rights.” The next morning the porter conveyed -the prophet’s message to the king, on which orders -were given to bring Zardusht into the royal presence. -This favorable intelligence having been -communicated to Zardusht, the prophet entered into -a warm bath, and after ablution, on appearing before -the king, he uttered benedictions on the sovereign -of the world. Gushtasp then assigned him a place -near himself, and having explained the state of the -horse, added:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“If thou be truly a prophet sent from the Lord,</div> - <div class="i0">Thou canst easily restore this horse to perfect health.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">Zardusht replied: “If thou wilt, O king, engage to -perform four things, thou shalt again behold the -charger’s fore and hind legs.” The king said: -“I accept the conditions: what is the first?” Zardusht -replied: “Let us all repair to the Black -Charger’s bed.” On arriving there he said to the -king: “Make thy heart and tongue of one accord: -utter with thy tongue and repeat with thy heart, -that without doubt, suspicion, or equivocation, I -am a prophet and apostle sent from God.” The -king having agreed to this, the prophet of the Lord -addressed his petitions to the God of justice, and -then rubbing with his hand the horse’s right forefoot, -<a name="Page_254" id="Page_254"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 254</span> -it straightway came out, on which the king and -the soldiery loudly applauded the holy man.</p> - -<p>After this, he said to the king: “Command the -heroic Isfendiar to enter into a covenant with me -that he will gird up his loins to promulgate the -faith of the Lord.” The prince was not averse, -and entered into a solemn engagement; on which -the apostle prayed to the Lord until the right hind -leg came out.</p> - -<p>He then said to the great king: “Send an <span class="title">Ustawar</span> -and an <span class="title">Amin</span> along with me to the great queen -<span class="person">Kitábún</span>, in order that she may enter into the true -faith.” The king having assented, Zardusht on -coming into the king’s golden apartment thus addressed -queen Kitábún: “Mighty princess! the Lord -has expressly selected thee to share the couch of -Gushtasp and to be the mother of Isfendiar. I am -the Lord’s prophet sent by him to the king: -therefore adopt the pure faith.” On this the -great queen with heart and soul attached herself in -sincerity to the prophet: after which Zardusht -prayed, so that the other hind leg came out.</p> - -<p>He then said to the king: “Now send for the -porter; it is proper to inquire of him who it was -that conveyed this stuff of magical preparation to -my house.” The king summoned the chamberlain -and questioned him in a threatening tone, saying: -“If thou wilt confess the truth, thou savest -<a name="Page_255" id="Page_255"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 255</span> -thy life; but otherwise, thou shalt have thy head -under thy feet.” The treacherous chamberlain -implored pardon, and related all the particulars of -the bribery and delusion practised by the philosophers’ -friends. Gushtasp was exceedingly indignant, -and ordered the four philosophers to be -hanged. Zardusht then recited the prayers taught -him by the Almighty, so that the other forefoot -came out, and the swift charger stood on his legs. -The sovereign of Iran kissed the prophet’s head and -face, and leading him to the throne, seated him near -himself; he also requested pardon for his sin and -gave back the prophet’s -goods.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_411" id="fnanchor_411"></a><a href="#footnote_411" class="fnanchor">[411]</a></span></p> - -<p>The doctors of the pure faith also record, that -king <span class="person">Lohrasp</span> and -<span class="person">Zerir</span>, brother to Gushtasp having -fallen into so violent a malady, that the physicians -in despair desisted from all attendance on -them, but having been restored to health through -the prayers of Zardusht, they adopted the pure -faith.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_412" id="fnanchor_412"></a><a href="#footnote_412" class="fnanchor">[412]</a></span></p> - -<p>Zaratusht the son of Bahram relates: One day -<a name="Page_256" id="Page_256"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 256</span> -Zardusht, having come into the king’s presence, he -thus addressed the prophet of the Lord: “I desire -to obtain four things from God; it is therefore -meet that the prophet should request them: -first, that I should behold my own state in the -next world; secondly, that in the time of conflict -no blow should make any impression on me, so -that I may be able to diffuse the true faith; -thirdly, that I may know thoroughly the mysteries -of good and evil in this world; fourthly, that -until the day of judgment my spirit may remain -united to my body.” Zardusht replied: “I will -entreat the Lord to grant these four wishes:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“But it is necessary that out of these four wishes</div> - <div class="i0">Thou shouldst implore one only for thyself:</div> - <div class="i0">Choose three wishes for three different persons:</div> - <div class="i0">That I may entreat them from the righteous Creator;</div> - <div class="i0">He will not confer on any one person these four gifts,</div> - <div class="i0">Because that person might say: ‘I am the supreme Creator.’”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>The king having agreed to this, Zaratusht at the -time of evening prayer went to his house, repeated -the praises of the Almighty, entreating from him the -accomplishment of the king’s desires, and lay down -in the act of adoration: in this state God showed him -in a vision that the king’s petition was granted. At -dawn of day the king was seated on his throne; -Zardusht appeared in the royal presence and came -to his place; in a moment after, the king’s chamberlain -entering in great trepidation, said: “There are -<a name="Page_257" id="Page_257"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 257</span> -four terror-striking, awe-inspiring horsemen at -the door:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Never before have I beheld horsemen of such a kind.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">The king asked of Zardusht: “Who are these persons?” -but he had scarcely done speaking before -all the four horsemen dressed in green, completely -armed, of majestic port, drew near the throne; these -four cavaliers were of the number of those angels -who are nearest the just God, and are of the great -Amshasfands, namely, -<span class="person">Bahman</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_413" id="fnanchor_413"></a><a href="#footnote_413" class="fnanchor">[413]</a></span> -<span class="person">Ardibahist</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_414" id="fnanchor_414"></a><a href="#footnote_414" class="fnanchor">[414]</a></span> -<span class="person">Azarkhurdad</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_415" id="fnanchor_415"></a><a href="#footnote_415" class="fnanchor">[415]</a></span> -and <span class="person">Azargushtásp</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_416" id="fnanchor_416"></a><a href="#footnote_416" class="fnanchor">[416]</a></span> -who thus addressed the -king: “We are angels and the envoys of God. The -Dispenser of justice thus declares: ‘Zardusht is -my prophet, whom I have sent to all the inhabitants -of the earth; attend well to him; if thou -devote thyself to his way, thou art delivered -from hell. Never inflict pain on him; and -when thou obtainest thy desires, avert not thy -head from his commands.’”</p> - -<p>King Gushtasp, although in magnanimity immovable -as mount <span class="place">Alburz</span>, yet through the majesty -<a name="Page_258" id="Page_258"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 258</span> -of the angels and their awful presence, fell senseless -from his throne: on recovering himself he thus -addressed the righteous Lord:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“I am the lowest of all thy servants,</div> - <div class="i0">And have girt up my loins to execute thy orders.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>When the Amshásfands heard this answer, they -departed; and the military, on learning this wonderful -occurrence, were all assembled: the king also, -trembling all over, apologized to Zardusht:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Thy command sits upon my soul;</div> - <div class="i0">My spirit is like the son of the Lord;</div> - <div class="i0">My body, soul, and wealth are all to thee devoted,</div> - <div class="i0">By order of the just and glorious Creator.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>The prophet of the Lord replied: “May good -tidings ever attend thee! I have entreated from -the Almighty the completion of thy desires, and -my prayer has been granted.” Zardusht then -ordered that for the purpose of the -<dfn>Yashtan-i-darún</dfn>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_417" id="fnanchor_417"></a><a href="#footnote_417" class="fnanchor">[417]</a></span> -that is, “the recitation and breathing out of -prayer,” they should make ready in an inner -<a name="Page_259" id="Page_259"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 259</span> -apartment wine, sweet perfumes, milk, and a pomegranate; -and over these he performed <dfn>Yasht</dfn>, or “the -recitation of prayers,” in a low voice, out of the -<span class="title">Avesta</span> and <span class="title">Zand</span>; after this ceremony they gave -Gushtasp some of the hallowed wine, on the mere -tasting of which he became insensible and rose not -up for three days: in that interval his spirit ascended -to heaven, and there beheld the celestial nymphs, -their palaces, progeny, and attendants; the blessings -of paradise; the different gradations of rank among -the virtuous, and the grade reserved for himself.</p> - -<p>The prophet next presented to -<span class="person">Bishutan</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_418" id="fnanchor_418"></a><a href="#footnote_418" class="fnanchor">[418]</a></span> some of -that hallowed milk, on drinking of which he was -delivered from the pangs of death and obtained eternal -life. Some of the Yezdánian doctors hold, that -by eternal life is implied the knowledge of one’s own -essence and soul, which never admit of decay; milk -is also mentioned, as it constitutes the food of children, -and science is the food of spirit; on which -account they have likened science to consecrated -milk. He next gave -<span class="person">Jamasp</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_419" id="fnanchor_419"></a><a href="#footnote_419" class="fnanchor">[419]</a></span> -some of the hallowed -perfume, through the efficacy of which universal -science shed its lustre on his heart; so that, from -that very day of his existence, whatever was to come -to pass until the day of judgment was clearly comprehended -<a name="Page_260" id="Page_260"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 260</span> -by him in all its details. He then gave -one grain of the hallowed pomegranate to <span class="person">Isfendiar</span>, -who on eating it instantly became brazen-bodied, -and his frame grew so hard that no blow could make -an impression on it.</p> - -<p>When the great king awoke from his vision, he -broke out into praise and adoration; after which he -called for Zardusht, to whom he related what he had -witnessed, and commanded all men to receive the -pure faith; then, being seated on his throne, he -ordered the prophet of the Lord to recite some sections -of the <span class="title">Zand</span> in his presence. On hearing the -<span class="title">Avesta</span>, the demons fled and concealed themselves -under the earth. The great king next commanded -that in every city the Mobeds should attend to the -observance of fire, erecting domes over it, and keeping -stated festivals and times.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Account of the precepts given by Zardusht to -the king and to all mankind.</span>—The prophet Zardusht, -having read to the king some sections concerning -the greatness and majesty of the Almighty, -said to him: “As thou hast adopted the ways of -God, the joy of paradise is to be thy portion; but -he who abandons that way is hurried off to hell -by Ahriman, who feels delighted, and on making -the capture says to his victim: ‘Because thou -hast abandoned the ways of God, therefore art -<a name="Page_261" id="Page_261"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 261</span> -thou fallen into hell.’ But the just God is liberal -to his servants, and has sent me to them, -saying: ‘Communicate my covenant to all created -beings, that they may abandon their perverse -ways.’ I am his prophet, sent to thee that thou -mayst guide mankind to the right road; as the -final result of persevering in the way of God is the -attainment of paradise; and the retribution of -devotedness to Ahriman is hell. He moreover -commanded me: ‘Say thou to mankind, if ye -adopt the pure faith, then shall paradise be your -place; but if ye receive it not, you follow the -institutes of Ahriman, and hell shall be your -abode.’ The several demonstrations of Zardusht -and his wondrous works are to you an -abundant proof of the truth of his faith. Know -also that at first he sought the world; but finally -regarded wife, children, and relations as strangers -to himself; he has moreover attained to such perfect -faith, that the king and the mendicant are -the same in his sight. He has enjoined me nothing -more than this: neither has he given me -permission to be your intercessor or to entreat -from him remission of your sins: for protection -extended to the evil doer is itself criminal, and -the chastisement of evil deeds is true religion: he -enjoined me also to entertain hope of his favor -from my words and deeds.”</p> - -<a name="Page_262" id="Page_262"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 262</span> -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Look to your acts and words, for they produce their sure effect,</div> - <div class="i0">The same seed that people sow, such the harvest they shall reap.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>It is also expressly stated in the glorious Koran -to the same purport:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_420" id="fnanchor_420"></a><a href="#footnote_420" class="fnanchor">[420]</a></span> -“On the very day when the -spirit (Gabriel) and the angels shall be ranged in -their order, nobody shall speak except him to -whom the Merciful will permit it, and who will say -nothing but what is just.” In another place it is -declared:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_421" id="fnanchor_421"></a><a href="#footnote_421" class="fnanchor">[421]</a></span> -“Truly thou canst not direct whomsoever -thou lovest; but God will direct whomsoever -he pleases.” It is also recorded in the traditions, -that the asylum of prophecy (on whom be blessings!) -said to the beautiful Fatima: “O Fatima! fear nothing, -for thou art the prophet’s daughter; perform -good works! again I say, perform good -works!” He also proposed this additional proof! -“Not one of the eminent, eloquent, learned, or wise -men of the world can produce a composition which -in the least resembles the volume I have sent down; -if they are able let them declare it; but as they are -unable, let them confess that this is the voice of -God: a similar statement has also been made in -the divine words of the Koran: ‘produce ye a -chapter resembling it.’ Again of the many -prophets who appeared on earth, all were ignorant -<a name="Page_263" id="Page_263"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 263</span> -of future events except Zardusht, who, in -the <cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, clearly expounded whatever was -to come to pass until the day of judgment, whether -good or evil.”</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Concerning kings inspired by truth, religion, and justice,</div> - <div class="i0">There are minute details if thou wilt call them to mind:</div> - <div class="i0">The names of all he has consigned to lasting fame,</div> - <div class="i0">Their every act and deed, whether just or unjust alike.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>Moreover no prophet, save Zardusht, bestowed in -the presence of God benedictions on the military -class whose hearts were rightly affected towards him.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“To the follower of his faith he said, if to the true believers</div> - <div class="i0">Thou doest good, then good shall result to thee.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">But above all he has said: “God has commanded -me: ‘Say thou to mankind they are not to abide -in hell for ever; when their sins are expiated, -they are delivered out of it.’”</p> - -<p>It is generally reported that Zardusht was of -<span class="place">Azarbadgán</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_422" id="fnanchor_422"></a><a href="#footnote_422" class="fnanchor">[422]</a></span> or <span class="place">Tabruz</span>; -but those who are not <dfn>Beh-dinians</dfn>, -or “true believers,” assert, and the writer -of this work has also heard from the Mobed <span class="person">Torru</span> of -<span class="place">Busáwári</span>, in Gujurat, that the birth-place and distinguished -<a name="Page_264" id="Page_264"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 264</span> -ancestors of the prophet belong to the -city of <span class="place">Rai</span>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_423" id="fnanchor_423"></a><a href="#footnote_423" class="fnanchor">[423]</a></span></p> - -<p>A Mobed has transcribed as follows from the <span class="title">Avesta</span> -and <span class="title">Zand</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_424" id="fnanchor_424"></a><a href="#footnote_424" class="fnanchor">[424]</a></span> -when the Amshásfand Báhmán, pursuant -to God’s command, had borne the prophet Zardusht -to heaven, he thus entreated of the Almighty: -“Close the door of death against me: let that be -my miracle.” But the righteous Lord replied: -“If I close the gates of death against thee, thou -wilt not be satisfied; nay, thou wouldst entreat -death from me.” He then gave Zardusht something -like honey, on tasting of which he became -insensible; like one in a profound sleep has visions, -he became acquainted with the mysteries of existence, -clearly perceiving the good and evil of whatever -is in being; nay, he knew the number of hairs -on the sheep, and the sum of the leaves on a tree. -When his senses were restored, the Almighty asked -him: “What hast thou seen?” He answered: -<a name="Page_265" id="Page_265"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 265</span> -O supreme ruler! I beheld in hell, along with -Ahriman, many wealthy persons who had been -ungrateful in this world; and I found in the supreme -paradise many persons, rich in gold and -silver, who had worshipped the Lord and been -grateful to him. I moreover saw in hell many -who were eminent for wealth, but who were -childless; and many an indigent Durvesh, the -father of many children, in the enjoyment of -paradise. I saw moreover a tree with seven -branches,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_425" id="fnanchor_425"></a><a href="#footnote_425" class="fnanchor">[425]</a></span> -the shadow of which extended far -and wide; one branch of gold, the second of silver, -the third of copper, the fourth of brass, the -fifth of tin (or lead), the sixth of steel, the seventh -of mixed iron.” The Lord then said to his prophet: -<a name="Page_266" id="Page_266"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 266</span> -“The tree with seven branches is the series -of events in the world, in which agitation arises -from seven sources through the revolution of the -spheres; the first or golden branch typifies the -way and attraction by which thou hast come to -my presence and attained the prophet’s office; -the second or silver branch signifies that the great -sovereign of the age shall receive thy system of -faith, and that the demons shall hide themselves -in dismay; the third or copper branch is the period -of the Ashkanian kings.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“He who is not a true believer</div> - <div class="i0">Holds in abhorrence the pure in faith.</div> - <div class="i0">The great stock of fortune shall at this time</div> - <div class="i0">Be torn piecemeal and scattered all over the world.</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>“The fourth, or the branch of brass, typifies the -reign of Ardashir, the son of Sássán, who shall -adorn the universe with the true faith and reestablish -the pure institutes; the people will embrace -the faith through the force of demonstration: -they will pour molten copper and brass on the -breast of Arzabad, and his person shall receive -no injury. The fifth, or leaden branch is the -reign of Báhrám Gor, during which mankind will -enjoy repose.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“When mankind are in the enjoyment of happiness,</div> - <div class="i0">Ahriman is grieved beforehand at this prosperous state.</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">“The sixth branch, or that of steel, is the reign of -Nushirwan, through whose equity the aged world -<a name="Page_267" id="Page_267"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 267</span> -shall be restored to youth; and although <span class="person">Mazdak</span> -of corrupt heart shall pursue his designs, yet will -he be unable to do any injury to the pure faith. -The seventh branch, or that of mixed iron, is -emblematic of the time when the period of a thousand -years verges to its -end,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_426" id="fnanchor_426"></a><a href="#footnote_426" class="fnanchor">[426]</a></span> -and the royal dignity -falls to <span class="title">Mazdakin</span>, and no respect remains to -the pure faith; then a people clothed in black, -oppressors of the poor, without title, reputation, -or merit, friends to tumult and wickedness, fraudulent, -hypocritical, and deceitful, bitter of heart -like aloes, with honied tongue, traitors to bread -and salt, ungrateful, speakers of falsehood, alike -building the most magnificent mansions and fond -of ruined caravansarais, seeking the ways of hell, -having conspired together will destroy the fire-temples, -and turn to themselves the spirit of the -inhabitants of Iran. The sons and daughters of -the nobles shall fall into their hands, and the -<a name="Page_268" id="Page_268"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 268</span> -children of the virtuous and mighty become their -attendants: nay, this race shall make a covenant-breaker -king over them:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“That person among them obtains both power and rank,</div> - <div class="i0">Whose career is directed to the production of misery.</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">“When this millennium comes to a termination, the -clouds shall mostly appear unattended by rain; -the rains not fall in their season; heats predominate; -the water of rivers be lessened; few cows -or sheep be left remaining; and men despicable -in figure, small of stature, weak in form, shall -then be met with.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“The speed of the horse and the rider shall suffer diminution,</div> - <div class="i0">And no productive energy remain in the bosom of the sown field.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">“Men shall gird the sacred zone in secrecy, and -drag on a dishonored existence, forgetting altogether -the <span class="title">Náúroz</span> and <span class="title">the festival -of Farvardin</span>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_427" id="fnanchor_427"></a><a href="#footnote_427" class="fnanchor">[427]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 269</span> - <div class="i0a">“The mouth of Safandármuz shall be opened wide,</div> - <div class="i0">And the hidden treasures cast forth and exposed to view.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">“An evil-disposed rapacious host of Turks shall -come to Iran, and force away the crown and -throne from its chieftains. O, Zardusht! communicate -these tidings to the Mobeds, that they -may impart them to the people.” Zardusht replied: -“How shall the professors of the true faith -be able to perform their worship?” to which this -answer was given: “When the second millennium -commences, mankind shall behold more calamity -than was witnessed in the times of Zohák and -Afrasiáb; and when that period is terminated, -there will not be found any one of the least merit -among the professors of the true faith.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“From every quarter they shall prepare to assail Iran,</div> - <div class="i0">With their chargers’ hoofs they shall lay it waste.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">Zardusht said: “O righteous Ormuzd! after so -much toil, abridgment of life and long-protracted -suffering shall not the professors of the true faith -find some intercessor; and how can discomfiture -overtake those clothed in black vestments?” The -Almighty answered thus: “Pain is not to last for -ever; when the black ensign is displayed, a host -arrayed in red vestments and helmets shall come -forth from the formidable room; and the land of -Khorasan be desolate by flood and vapor; the -earth shall tremble and the cultivated fields be -<a name="Page_270" id="Page_270"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 270</span> -laid waste; Turk, Rúmite, and Arab encounter -each other; and the borders of Turan be made a -wilderness by Turks, Persians, and Hindoos; the -sacred fire be borne to <dfn>Dushkhargar</dfn>, or ‘the -mountainous region;’ and, through invasions, -Iran become one scene of desolation.” The prophet -then said: “O, Lord! however short the duration -of this people may be, they will surely destroy -life; how then shall these wicked be exterminated?” -To which he received this answer: -“The standard of an army arises out of Khorasan, -and then Hoshidar is separated from his mother; -when he arrives at the age of thirty, he will follow -the ancient mode of faith, and become sovereign -of Hindustan and China; he shall have a son of -the Kaianian race, named Bahram and entitled -Hamawand, but whom his nation will call Shapur: -on the birth of that illustrious child, the stars -shall drop down from heaven; and his father pass -away from this world in the month of <span class="time">Aban</span> and the -day of <span class="time">Baud</span>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_428" id="fnanchor_428"></a><a href="#footnote_428" class="fnanchor">[428]</a></span> -When this son has attained twenty-one -years of age, he shall march in every direction -with a numerous host, and proceeding with his -troops to Balkh and Bokhara, advance into Iran -<a name="Page_271" id="Page_271"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 271</span> -with the armies of India and China. A man -professing the good faith in the mountain region -will then exert himself, and bringing up an army -from Khorasan and Sistan, come to the aid of -Iran:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“From Kishtí Duwál, Roome, and Firingstan,</div> - <div class="i0">From demons clothed in black, like piebald wolves.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">“Three mighty battles shall then ensue, which will -render Persia the land of mourning; after which -will arise an exalted avenging prince who shall obtain -the victory. In those days a thousand women -shall not be able to find one man; and if they -should perchance behold one, they shall be filled -with astonishment. When those times are come -to an end, I shall send Serósh towards Jerusalem -and summon Bishutan, who will issue forth with -a company of one hundred and fifty virtuous men, -and duly perform <dfn>Yasht</dfn>, or ‘prayer,’ on which -Ahriman will engage in battle with them; but, on -hearing the sound of the <span class="title">Hadokht</span> and the <span class="title">Ashtawazand</span>, -the partizans of Ahriman shall flee out of -Iran. A prince, Báhrám by name, shall then -ascend the throne, bring back the sacred fire, and -restore the institutions of ancient times, and the -seed of the wicked shall then be exterminated: -finally, when Bishutan beholds every thing duly -arranged, he will return with royal pomp to his -own palace.”</p> - -<p><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 272</span> -The Mobed <span class="person">Azar Khirad</span> relates in his book that the -<span class="title">Zand</span> contains twenty-one <dfn>Nosks</dfn>, or “parts,” every -<span class="title">Nosk</span> having a particular name in Zand and Parsi -according to the following -list:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_429" id="fnanchor_429"></a><a href="#footnote_429" class="fnanchor">[429]</a></span> <span class="title">Yathá</span>, -<span class="title">Ita</span>, <span class="title">Ahu</span>, -<a name="Page_273" id="Page_273"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 273</span> -<span class="title">Wíría</span>, <span class="title">Alartúsh</span>, -<span class="title">Nadar</span>, which they call in Arabic -<span class="trans">Búfastál</span>, and in Parsi <span class="trans">Favaímasíhan</span>. This Nosk -treats of the stars, constellations, order of the -<a name="Page_274" id="Page_274"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 274</span> -heavens, the aspects, the good and evil influences of -the heavenly bodies, and such like topics. The -other Nosks are: the <span class="title">Ashád</span>, <span class="title">Chíd</span>, -<span class="title">Hashú</span>, <span class="title">Wankawísh</span>, -<a name="Page_275" id="Page_275"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 275</span> -<span class="title">Wazda</span>, <span class="title">Mankahú</span>, -<span class="title">Sítanú</span>, <span class="title">Nan</span>, <span class="title">Ankahísh</span>, <span class="title">Marzái</span>, -<span class="title">Khashar</span>, <span class="title">Machá</span>, -<span class="title">Ahrá</span>, <span class="title">Ayám</span>, <span class="title">Darkúbíú</span> and <span class="title">Astarám</span>: -all the sciences are contained in the Zand, but some -are mentioned enigmatically and by way of allusion. -At present there are fourteen complete Nosks possessed -by the Dostúrs of Karman, the other seven -being incomplete, as through the wars and dissensions -which prevailed in Iran some of the Nosks -<a name="Page_276" id="Page_276"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 276</span> -have disappeared, so that, notwithstanding the -greatest researches, the Nosks have come into their -hands in a defective state.</p> - -<p>Zaratusht Báhrám, the son of <span class="person">Pazhdú</span>, relates -that, at the time of the promulgation of the pure -faith in Iran, there lived in India a sage of profound -learning, named <span class="person">Jangrangháchah</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_430" id="fnanchor_430"></a><a href="#footnote_430" class="fnanchor">[430]</a></span> -whose pupil <span class="person">Jamasp</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_431" id="fnanchor_431"></a><a href="#footnote_431" class="fnanchor">[431]</a></span> -had been during many years, a circumstance -which procured him great distinction. On being -informed of Gushtasp’s conversion, he wrote an -epistle to the great king, to dissuade him from the -profession of the pure faith. By the king’s command, -this sage came to Iran to hold a disputation -with Zardusht, who said to him: “Listen to one -Nosk of this Asta which I have received from God, -<a name="Page_277" id="Page_277"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 277</span> -and attend to its interpretation.” Upon this, at -the illustrious prophet’s command, one of his disciples -read a Nosk in which God said thus to Zardusht: -“On the promulgation of the pure faith, there -shall come from Hindustan a wise man, named -<span class="person">Jangrangháchah</span>, who will ask thee questions, after -such and such guise, the answers to which are -after this manner, thus answering all his questions:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“By this same Nosk his condition was improved,</div> - <div class="i0">And the answer to each question was correctly given.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>When he heard the solutions of his questions he -fell from his chair, and on recovering his senses -adopted the pure faith. The prophet Sásán the -Fifth, in his select commentary on the <span class="title">Dasátir</span> and -the interpretation of the code of Zardusht, relates, -that when Isfendiar had promulgated the pure faith, -the eminent sages of Greece dispatched a learned -man, named <span class="person">Niyátús</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_432" id="fnanchor_432"></a><a href="#footnote_432" class="fnanchor">[432]</a></span> -to interrogate the prophet of -<a name="Page_278" id="Page_278"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 278</span> -the Lord concerning the exact nature of his tenets. -Gushtasp, having assigned him an audience on a -most auspicious day. this distinguished Greek, on -<a name="Page_279" id="Page_279"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 279</span> -beholding the face of Zardusht, said: “From this -face, knowledge, sagacity, and science are manifest -as the properties of a mind so formed; and this -is not the physiognomy of one who utters falsehoods.” -He then asked him concerning the moment, -day, month, and year of his birth, which being -communicated by Zardusht, Niyátús observed: -“Under such a horoscope, a person of weak intellects -cannot be born.” He next questioned him -concerning his food, sleep, and mode of life, which -being also explained, Niyátús added: “From this -rule of life he cannot be an impostor.” The prophet -of the Lord then said to him: “Keep in thy -heart whatever thou desirest to inquire about, and -utter it not with thy tongue; as the Almighty has -acquainted me with it, and for my sake has sent -me his word in this chapter relative to these matters.” -On this, one of the prophet’s disciples -read to Niyátús, out of a single chapter, all that was -laid up in the noble envoy’s breast, and whatever he -<a name="Page_280" id="Page_280"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 280</span> -was commissioned to enquire about, at the desire of -the eminent men of Greece.</p> - -<p>The Fifth Sásán, in like manner, relates that when -the report of Jangrangháchah’s having adopted the -faith was published abroad, a sage, by name -<span class="person">Byásá</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_433" id="fnanchor_433"></a><a href="#footnote_433" class="fnanchor">[433]</a></span> -<a name="Page_281" id="Page_281"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 281</span> -came from India to Iran; and the sages of every -country being assembled, pursuant to the great -king’s command, Biyása thus addressed the prophet -<a name="Page_282" id="Page_282"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 282</span> -of the Lord in the presence of all: “O, Zardusht! -in consequence of thy answers and unfolding of -mysteries to the wise Jangrangháchah, thou art -accounted a true prophet. I have besides heard -of innumerable miracles performed by thee. Know -that I also, in my own country, am reckoned as -one who is unequalled both in the theoretical -and practical sciences. I now hope that thou -wilt disclose the secrets which I have kept pent -up in my bosom, and have never in any manner -transferred from the page of my heart to the lip: -some people tell us that the genii impart knowledge -of this kind to the worshippers of Ahriman: -however if thou canst unfold all these secrets, I -shall turn to thy faith.” The prophet of the Lord -said: “Long before thy arrival, the God of purity -made all known to me.” He then recited a <dfn>Simnad</dfn>, -“chapter,” which the Lord had sent down on -those subjects; in which was specified whatever -was in Byása’s heart, with the answer attached to -it; after which Byása listened to the word of God, -and having made profession of the pure faith, returned -<a name="Page_283" id="Page_283"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 283</span> -to Hindustan. It is to be remarked that the -two Simnad which contain the answers to the eminent -envoy of the Greeks and the sage Byasa do not -form a part of the Astawazand, but constitute a -portion of the Desátir,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_434" id="fnanchor_434"></a><a href="#footnote_434" class="fnanchor">[434]</a></span> -or of the celestial volume, in -the language of which a chapter is styled a Simnad.</p> - -<p>Moreover, Zaratusht Báhrám thus relates concerning -the account of heaven and hell given by -<span class="person">Ardaiviráf</span>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_435" id="fnanchor_435"></a><a href="#footnote_435" class="fnanchor">[435]</a></span> -It is recorded that, when the power of -<span class="person">Ardeshir Babagan</span> was firmly established, he assembled -around him forty thousand virtuous Mobeds -and Dustars, out of which number he selected four -thousand; of those thus selected he set apart four -hundred, who knew by heart the greater part of the -Asta; of these four hundred he again chose out forty -learned doctors; and from these he selected seven -unblemished sages, equally free from mortal and venial -sins, whom he thus addressed: “Let whichever -of you is able divest himself of body, and bring us -intelligence concerning heaven and hell.” These -righteous men made answer: “For such a purpose -<a name="Page_284" id="Page_284"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 284</span> -there is required a man who from the age of seven -upwards has not committed sin.” After which -these sages selected from amongst them one, named -<span class="person">Ardai Viráf</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_436" id="fnanchor_436"></a><a href="#footnote_436" class="fnanchor">[436]</a></span> -whom they knew to be possessed of -this excellence, and, accompanied by the great king, -they all repaired to <span class="place">Azar Khúrdád</span>, which was a fire-temple; -having there prepared a golden throne for -<span class="person">Ardai Viráf</span>, the forty thousand professors of the -faith performed <dfn>Yazash</dfn>, that is, recited prayers according -to the prescribed mode. Ardáiviráf, having -drunk a cup of hallowed wine which he received -from the Dustur, lay down on his couch and did not -arise before the expiration of a week; his spirit, -through the efficacy of the divine word, having been -separated from the body, those six Dustúrs all the -while standing around his pillow. On the eighth -day Ardáí, arising from sleep, ordered a scribe to be -brought, who should commit to writing all his -<a name="Page_285" id="Page_285"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 285</span> -words; and he thus spoke:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_437" id="fnanchor_437"></a><a href="#footnote_437" class="fnanchor">[437]</a></span> -“When I fell asleep, -<span class="title">Sirushi</span>, who is called also <span class="title">Surúsh Ashú</span>, or <span class="title">Ashú</span> simply, -or ‘the Angel of paradise,’ came near. Having -made my salám, I explained the motives of my -coming to the other world. He took my hand and -said: ‘Ascend three steps.’ I obeyed, and arrived -at the <dfn>Chanyud Pul</dfn>, or ‘the straight bridge of judgment’ -(the sarát of the Muhammedans). The -accompanying Angel pointed me out the road, -when I beheld a bridge finer than a hair and -sharper than a razor, and strong, and its length -was seven-and-thirty <dfn>rasans</dfn>, or -cords.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_438" id="fnanchor_438"></a><a href="#footnote_438" class="fnanchor">[438]</a></span> I beheld -<a name="Page_286" id="Page_286"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 286</span> -a spirit just parted from the body in a state of -tranquillity; on its arrival at the bridge of judgment, -a fragrant gale came from mid-day or the -east, out of which issued forth a beautiful nymph-like -form, the like of which I never before beheld. -The spirit asked her: ‘Who art thou of such -surpassing beauty?’ She replied: ‘I am the -personification of thy good deeds.’</p> - -<p>“I then saw <span class="title">Mihr Ized</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_439" id="fnanchor_439"></a><a href="#footnote_439" class="fnanchor">[439]</a></span> -at whose side were standing -<a name="Page_287" id="Page_287"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 287</span> -<span class="title">Rash Rast</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_440" id="fnanchor_440"></a><a href="#footnote_440" class="fnanchor">[440]</a></span> -and <span class="title">Sarúsh Ized</span> holding a balance -in his hand, and angels assembled around them. -Now Mihr Ized is the angel whose province it is to -number and estimate people in regard to rewards -and punishments. Rash is his minister of justice -and the lord of equity; and Sarúsh is the lord of -messages and the master of announcements. To -these I made my salam which they returned, and -I passed over the bridge.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_441" id="fnanchor_441"></a><a href="#footnote_441" class="fnanchor">[441]</a></span> -Several spirits then -<a name="Page_288" id="Page_288"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 288</span> -appeared who addressed me affectionately; Báhmán -next appeared and said to me: ‘Come on, -that I may show thee the <dfn>Gah-i-zarin’</dfn> (or golden -place, which is the same as the celestial throne). -I proceeded with him to a beautiful throne, where -I beheld the spirit before mentioned, whose deeds -were personified by a beauteous form, with the -<dfn>Ashwan</dfn>, or ‘pure spirits,’ and the inhabitants of -paradise around him, with the spirits of his relations -rejoicing as on the arrival of a long-absent -traveller from his abode; then Báhmán took his -hand and brought him to a place worthy of him. -When I had proceeded a little onwards, I beheld -a lofty portico, where by order of Surúsh I addressed -my prayers towards the place of God, and -my sight became darkened through the effulgence -of light. Surúsh again brought me back to the -bridge of judgment, around which I beheld a number -of persons standing with folded hands. I -asked: ‘Who are those persons?’ Surúsh answered: -<a name="Page_289" id="Page_289"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 289</span> -‘These are the weak in faith, who remain -in this state until the day of judgment: if they -possessed an additional particle of virtue, equal -in weight to one of the hairs of the eyelash, -they would be relieved from this calamity.’ I -then beheld another assemblage like unto shining -stars. Surush said: ‘This is the <dfn>Satra -Payah</dfn>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_442" id="fnanchor_442"></a><a href="#footnote_442" class="fnanchor">[442]</a></span> -(or the sphere of the fixed stars); in these are a -people who with all their wealth observed not -the <dfn>Gítí Kharíd</dfn><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_443" id="fnanchor_443"></a><a href="#footnote_443" class="fnanchor">[443]</a></span> -(the purchase of the other world) -and the <dfn>Naú Roz</dfn> (or the festival of the new -year.)’ He next brought me to the <dfn>Máh Páyah</dfn> -(or lunar sphere), where I beheld spirits resplendent -as the moon. The angel said: ‘this <span class="title">Máh -Páyah</span> is also one of the spheres of paradise, in -which are those who have performed every kind -of meritorious act and deed, except observing -the <span class="title">Naú Roz</span>.’ He then conducted me to the -<dfn>Khúrshíd Páyah</dfn> (or solar sphere) where I beheld -<a name="Page_290" id="Page_290"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 290</span> -spirits exceedingly bright, radiant as the sun. -The angel said: ‘In the solar sphere are the -persons who have observed the <span class="title">Gítí Kharíd</span> and -the <span class="title">Naú Roz</span>.’ At his command, I then addressed -my prayers to the <span class="title">Warakt</span> and <span class="title">Khurah-i-Yazdan</span>, -or ‘light of the Almighty:’ perception -and intellect, through the effects of terror and -overpowering awe, began to flee from me; a voice, -however, from which I obtained renovated energy, -came to my hearing: there was then some -oil<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_444" id="fnanchor_444"></a><a href="#footnote_444" class="fnanchor">[444]</a></span> -given me to drink out of a golden cup: I partook -of it and found it of an incomparable taste: they -told me that it was the food of the people of paradise. -I next beheld <span class="title">Ardi Behést</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_445" id="fnanchor_445"></a><a href="#footnote_445" class="fnanchor">[445]</a></span> -to whom I made -my salam. He said to me: ‘Place on the sacred -fire wood free from moisture.’ Surush then -bore me off to <dfn>Kurutaman</dfn>, or ‘paradise,’<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_446" id="fnanchor_446"></a><a href="#footnote_446" class="fnanchor">[446]</a></span> -in the -light of which I became bewildered in astonishment: -<a name="Page_291" id="Page_291"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 291</span> -I knew none of the precious stones of -which it was composed. The angels, by the command -of the Almighty, took me round every part -of it. I next came to a place where I beheld an -illustrious assemblage enveloped in <dfn>Khurah</dfn>, that -is, ‘radiance and pomp.’ <span class="person">Surúsh Ashir</span> said: -‘These are the spirits of the munificent and noble-minded.’ -After this I saw a great multitude in -all magnificence. Surúsh explained to me: -‘These are the spirits of all who have observed -the <span class="title">Naú Roz</span>.’ Next them I beheld an assemblage -in the enjoyment of all magnificence and -happiness. Surúsh observed: ‘These are the spirits -of just princes.’ After this I beheld blessed -spirits in boundless joy and power. Surush explained: -‘These are the Dustúrs and Mobeds: -my duty is to convey that class to this honor.’ -I next beheld a company of women rejoicing in -the midst of great pomp. Surúsh Ashú and -Ardibahést observed: ‘These are the spirits of -women who were obedient to their husbands.’ -I then beheld a multitude of majestic and beautiful -persons, seated along with angels. Surúsh said: -‘this class consists of Hírbuds and Mobeds, the -attendants on fire-temples, and the observers of -the <span class="title">Yasht</span> and <span class="title">Yazisht</span> -of the Amshasfands.’ After -these I saw an armed assemblage in a state of the -highest joy. Surúsh informed me: ‘These are -<a name="Page_292" id="Page_292"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 292</span> -the spirits of the champions who fought in the -ways of God, maintaining their country and the -husbandmen in a state of prosperity and tranquillity.’ -I next beheld a great assemblage in -the enjoyment of all delight and gladness. Surúsh -observed: ‘These are the spirits of the slayers -of the <dfn>Khurástár</dfn> (or noxious -animals).’<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_447" id="fnanchor_447"></a><a href="#footnote_447" class="fnanchor">[447]</a></span> After -this, I witnessed a people given up to sporting -and happiness. Surush observed: ‘These are the -spirits of the husbandmen, over whom <span class="title">Safándarmuz</span> -is set; he consequently presides over this -class, as they have propitiated him by their -acts.’ I next beheld a great company surrounded -by all the appliances of enjoyment. Surúsh said: -‘These are the spirits of shepherds.’ After this, -I beheld great numbers in a state of repose and -joy, and the elemental principles of paradise standing -before them. Surúsh observed: ‘These are -the heads of families, friends to building, who -have improved the world by gardens and water-courses, -and held the elements in reverence.’ -I next came to another class, endowed with prophet-like -radiance, of whom Surúsh remarked: -‘These are the spirits of <span class="title">Jádóngóis</span>.’ By <dfn>Jádóngóis</dfn> -is meant one who solicits money from the wealthy -<a name="Page_293" id="Page_293"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 293</span> -to promote the way of the Lord, and who expends -it on noble foundations and holy indigent persons.</p> - -<p>“What can I say concerning the black-eyed -nymphs—the palaces, offspring, and attendants—the -drinks and viands?—any thing like which -I know not of in this elemental world.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_448" id="fnanchor_448"></a><a href="#footnote_448" class="fnanchor">[448]</a></span></p> - -<p>“After this Surúsh and Ardibehést, taking me -<a name="Page_294" id="Page_294"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 294</span> -out of paradise, bore me off to behold the punishments -inflicted on those in hell. First of all, -I beheld a black and gloomy river of fetid water, -with weeping multitudes falling in and drowning. -Surúsh said: ‘This water is collected from the -tears shed by relatives on the death of a person; -and those who are drowning are they whose -relatives, after their death, break out into -mourning, weeping, and tears.’ I next proceeded -towards the bridge of judgment, where I -beheld a spirit rent from the body, and mourning -for its separation: there arose a fetid gale, out of -which issued a gloomy figure, with red eye-balls, -hooked nose, hideous lips, teeth like columns, a -head like the kettle of a -minaret,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_449" id="fnanchor_449"></a><a href="#footnote_449" class="fnanchor">[449]</a></span> -long talons, -spear-like fangs, snaky locks, and vomiting out -smoke. The alarmed spirit having asked, ‘Who -art thou?’ he answered, ‘I am the personification -of thy acts and deeds.’ On saying this, he -threw his hands around the spirit’s neck, so that -his lamentations came to the bridge of judgment, -which is sharper than a razor: on this the spirit -having gone a little way with great difficulty, at -last fell into the infernal regions. I then followed -him, accompanied by Súrush and Ardibehest: our -road lay through snow, ice, storms, intense cold, -<a name="Page_295" id="Page_295"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 295</span> -mephitic exhalations, and obscurity, along a region -full of pits: into these I looked, and there beheld -countless myriads of spirits suffering tortures. -They all wailed bitterly, and the darkness was so -thick that one was unable to perceive the other, or -to distinguish his lamentation: three days such -punishment is equal to nine thousand years, and -the same calculation applies to the other pits, in -all of which were serpents, scorpions, stinging -and noxious creatures: whatever spirit falls into -them</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“Was stung by one and torn by another,</div> - <div class="i0">Was bit by this, and pierced by that.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>“Surúsh having taken me below, I there beheld a -spirit with a human head and serpent-like body, -surrounded by many demons who were applying -the torture to his feet, and smiting him in every -direction with hatchets, daggers, and maces, -whilst noxious creatures were biting him on all -sides. Surúsh observed: ‘This was a man of vile -passions.’ I next saw a woman who held in her -hand a cup filled with blood and corrupted matter; -demons kept striking her with clubs and -spears until she swallowed the nauseous draught, -on which they instantly replaced a similar bowl -in her hands. Surúsh remarked: ‘This woman, -whilst laboring under periodical illness, approached -the elements, of fire and water.’ I -<a name="Page_296" id="Page_296"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 296</span> -then beheld a man wailing piteously, whose head -they were scalping with a poniard: Surúsh said: -‘This was a shedder of innocent blood.’ I next -saw a man who was forced to swallow blood and -corrupted matter, with which they were continually -supplying him. The demons in the mean -time tortured him, and placed a heavy mountain -on his breast: Surúsh stated this to be ‘The spirit -of a dissolute man, who seduced the wives of -other men.’ After this, I beheld a spirit weeping -through hunger and thirst; so intense was his -craving, that he drank his own blood and devoured -his own flesh. Surúsh stated: ‘This is the spirit -of one who observed not the -<span class="title">Báj</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_450" id="fnanchor_450"></a><a href="#footnote_450" class="fnanchor">[450]</a></span> when partaking -of food,’” (Báj is a rite practised by orthodox -Parsees before meat, as has been explained under -the head of banquet) “‘and who on the day of -Aban<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_451" id="fnanchor_451"></a><a href="#footnote_451" class="fnanchor">[451]</a></span> -partook of water, fruit, and bread, so that -the angels <span class="title">Khurdád</span> -and <span class="title">Murdád</span> were displeased -with him.’ I next beheld a woman suspended -by her breasts and noxious creatures falling on -her. Surúsh said: ‘this is a woman who deserted -her husband and went after another man.’ I -<a name="Page_297" id="Page_297"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 297</span> -then saw a great multitude of spirits, furiously -assailed by rapacious animals and noxious creatures. -Surúsh stated thus: ‘These are persons -who adopted not the <dfn>Kashti</dfn><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_452" id="fnanchor_452"></a><a href="#footnote_452" class="fnanchor">[452]</a></span> -or sacred cincture as -worn by professors of the excellent faith.’ I next -beheld a woman hung up, with her tongue protruding -from the hind part of the neck. Surúsh -observed: ‘This is a woman who obeyed not her -husband, and replied to him with harsh answers -and opposition.’ I then saw a man eating with -a ladle the most noxious things, of which if he -took too small a portion, demons smote him with -wooden clubs. Surúsh observed: ‘this is the -spirit of one who betrayed his trust.’ I after this -<a name="Page_298" id="Page_298"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 298</span> -beheld a man hung up, surrounded by seventy -demons, who were lashing him with serpents -instead of scourges; and meanwhile the serpents -kept gnawing his flesh with their fangs. Surúsh -Ashú said: ‘This is a king who extorted money -from his subjects by torture.’ I next beheld a -man with wide-opened mouth and protruding -tongue,</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“With serpents and scorpions covered all over,</div> - <div class="i0">The one lacerating with fangs, the others lashing with their tails.</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">“Surúsh said: ‘This was a tale-bearer, who by his -lies caused dissension and strife among mankind.’ -After this I saw a man, every ligature -and joint of whose body they were tearing asunder. -Surúsh said: ‘This person has slain many four-footed -animals.’ I next beheld a man exposed -to body-rending torture, concerning whom Surúsh -said: ‘This was a wealthy, avaricious man, who -employed not his riches for the useful purposes -of either world.’ I then saw a person to whom -were offered all sorts of noxious creatures, whilst -one foot was free from all kind of suffering. Surúsh -said concerning him: ‘This is the spirit of a -negligent person, who did not in the least attend -to the concerns of the world or the world to -come. As he once passed along the road, he -observed a goat tied up in such a manner that it -was unable to get at its food: with that foot he -<a name="Page_299" id="Page_299"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 299</span> -tossed the forage towards the animal, in recompense -of which good act that foot is exempt from -suffering.’ I next beheld a person whose tongue -was laid on a stone, and demons kept beating it -with another. Concerning him Surúsh observed: -‘This person was an habitual slanderer and liar, -through whose words people fell into mischief.’ -I then saw a woman whose breasts the demons -were grinding under a millstone. About her -Surúsh observed: ‘This woman produced abortion -by means of drugs.’ I next beheld a man in -whose seven members worms had fixed themselves. -Concerning him Surúsh said: ‘This person -gave false witness for money, and derived -his support from that resource.’ After this I -saw a man devouring the flesh of a corpse and -drinking human gore. Surúsh observed: ‘This -is the spirit of one who amassed wealth by unlawful -means.’ I afterwards beheld a great -multitude with pallid faces, fetid bodies, and limbs -covered with worms. About these Surúsh Ashú -observed: ‘These are hypocrites of satanic qualities, -whose hearts were not in accordance with -their words, and who led astray the professors of -the excellent faith, divesting themselves of all -respect for religion and morality.’ I next saw -a man the members of whose body hell-hounds -were rending asunder. Concerning him Surúsh -<a name="Page_300" id="Page_300"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 300</span> -said: ‘This man was in the habit of slaughtering -water and land dogs.’ I next beheld a woman -hurled into snow and smitten by the guardians of -fire. About her Surúsh said: ‘When this woman -combed herself, her hairs fell into the fire.’ After -this I beheld another woman tearing off with a -poniard the flesh of her own body and devouring -it. Surush said: ‘This is an enchantress who used -to fascinate men.’ Next her I saw a man whom -the demons forced by blows to swallow blood, -corrupted matter, and human flesh. Concerning -him Surúsh said: ‘This man was in the habit of -casting dead bodies, corrupted matter, nails, and -hair into fire and water.’ I afterwards beheld a -person devouring the flesh and skin of a dead -body. Surúsh said: ‘This person defrauded the -labourers of their hire.’ I next beheld a man -with a mountain on his back, whom with his -load they forced through terror into the midst of -snows and ice. Surúsh observed: ‘This was an -adulterer, who took the wife from her husband.’ -I afterwards saw a number of ill-fated persons up -to their necks in ice and snow, before each of -whom was a cup filled with gore, and hair, and -impurities, which, through terror of blows and -clubs, they were obliged to swallow. Surúsh observed: -‘These are persons who used warm bathing -along with the <dfn>Batardeen</dfn> (or the enemies of the -<a name="Page_301" id="Page_301"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 301</span> -faith) washing their bodies and heads in such -unclean and polluted baths.’ I then beheld a -person groaning under the weight of a mountain. -Concerning him Surúsh said: ‘This man laid -heavy taxes on the people, established evil ordinances, -and oppressed mankind.’ Next him I -beheld one digging up a mountain with his fingers -and nails, whilst the superintendent kept smiting -him with a viper. Surúsh said: ‘This is a man -who by violence seized on the lands of others:’</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“As long as this earth and place continue to exist,</div> - <div class="i0">So long, by way of retribution, shall this spirit be thus employed.</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">I afterwards saw a man the flesh of whose shoulders -and body they were scraping off with a comb -of iron. Concerning him Surúsh said: ‘This man -was an egregious violator of promises and -breaker of engagements.’ I then beheld a great -multitude whose hands and feet they were smiting -with bludgeons, iron maces, and such like. -Concerning these Surúsh observed: ‘This class -is composed of promise-breakers and the violators -of covenants, who maintained friendship -with <dfn>Darwands</dfn>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_453" id="fnanchor_453"></a><a href="#footnote_453" class="fnanchor">[453]</a></span> -or those hostile to the faith.’ -<a name="Page_302" id="Page_302"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 302</span> -Surúsh, Ashú, and Ardibehest then led me from -that abode of misery to <dfn>Girutuman</dfn>, ‘the seat of -supreme bliss,’ or ‘paradise on high,’ which is -called ‘the heaven of heavens.’ On beholding -the light and splendor of the righteous Lord, I -became entranced, and this spirit-reviving voice -reached my ears: ‘Through thy virtuous words -and actions, which have been conformable to -the excellent faith, joined to the co-operation -and energy of intellect, though hast resisted all -the demons which infest the body, and hast -therefore attained to this rank.’ Surúsh then -taking me by the hand, said: ‘Communicate to -mankind all thou hast heard.’ He next took -me down to paradise, where several spirits received -me and said: ‘Reveal these mysteries to -our relations, that they may beware of sin.’ I -next came to the lunar mansion, where they addressed -me in the same manner. I afterwards -reached the starry mansion with the same two -companions, and here also the spirits advanced -to receive me, saying: ‘Counsel our relations to -make <span class="title">Yasht</span> and <dfn>Yazisht</dfn> (to pray in a low murmuring -tone at meal-time) and to cleave firmly to -the festival of the <span class="title">Naú Roz</span>, and the girding of -<a name="Page_303" id="Page_303"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 303</span> -the cincture; had we observed these rites, we -should not have remained in this mansion, but -gone on to Paradise.’ It appears to follow from -what has been stated, that the starry mansion or -zodiacal sphere is below that of the moon; the -Yezdanians however say, that the starry mansion -signifies the mansion of the spirits who below the -lunar sphere are not exempted from sufferings, -but are attached to the bodies of the virtuous by -means of the zodiacal -signs.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_454" id="fnanchor_454"></a><a href="#footnote_454" class="fnanchor">[454]</a></span></p> - -<p>“I next came to <dfn>Chínawad Pul</dfn> (the bridge of judgment) -where many spirits thus addressed me: -‘Tell men to leave sons behind them in the -world, or otherwise they must, like us, remain -here.’</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“We behold paradise in distant perspective,</div> - <div class="i0">But are far removed from its enjoyment.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="unindent">“Another company of spirits said: ‘Let not men -look at the wife or mate of another; and let -them hold up none to suspicion: otherwise they -must remain here like us, until our injured -enemy comes hither from the world: if he be -propitiated, we may be delivered.’</p> - -<p><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 304</span> -“Surúsh and Ardibehest then brought me to the -lower world and bade me -adieu.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_455" id="fnanchor_455"></a><a href="#footnote_455" class="fnanchor">[455]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2">When the scribe had written down all the words -of Ardi Viraf, he read them over to the great king, -who thereupon duly promulgated the excellent faith, -and sent Mobeds to all the borders of Iran.</p> - -<p>After (the death of Ardashir) appeared the Mobed -<span class="person">Azarbad</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_456" id="fnanchor_456"></a><a href="#footnote_456" class="fnanchor">[456]</a></span> -the son of <span class="person">Marasfand</span> (whose lineage by the -<a name="Page_305" id="Page_305"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 305</span> -father ascended to the prophet Zardusht, and by -his mother to king Gushtasp), from whom king -Shapur (the son of Ardeshir) and the military having -demanded a miracle in proof of the faith, the forty -thousand wise men were again -assembled.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_457" id="fnanchor_457"></a><a href="#footnote_457" class="fnanchor">[457]</a></span> Azarbad, -having performed his ablutions, lay down before -this great assemblage, whereupon they poured nine -<a name="Page_306" id="Page_306"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 306</span> -mans of melted brass upon his bared breast, but, -through the divine glory, his person received no -injury. On beholding this, all those who before -had been unbelievers, embraced the faith. From -the time of Azarbád the Dustúrs of all succeeding -kings were of his -lineage.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_458" id="fnanchor_458"></a><a href="#footnote_458" class="fnanchor">[458]</a></span></p> - -<p>The professors of the excellent faith and the -Moslem historians agree, that in Kashmir or -Kashmar,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_459" id="fnanchor_459"></a><a href="#footnote_459" class="fnanchor">[459]</a></span> -a place celebrated for female beauty, a dependency -of Naishapur, there was formerly a -cypress<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_460" id="fnanchor_460"></a><a href="#footnote_460" class="fnanchor">[460]</a></span> -<a name="Page_307" id="Page_307"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 307</span> -planted by Zardusht for king Gushtasp, the like of -which was never seen before or since, for beauty, -height, or straightness: mention of this tree having -been made at the court of -Mutawakkal<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_461" id="fnanchor_461"></a><a href="#footnote_461" class="fnanchor">[461]</a></span> -when he was -engaged in building the <span class="title">Sarman raï</span>, -or <span class="place">Samarah</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_462" id="fnanchor_462"></a><a href="#footnote_462" class="fnanchor">[462]</a></span> -palace in the Jâafriyah,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_463" id="fnanchor_463"></a><a href="#footnote_463" class="fnanchor">[463]</a></span> -the Khalif felt a great desire -to behold it: and as it was not in his power to go to -Khorasan, he wrote to <span class="title">Abdallah Táhir Zavalimin</span>, -“possessor of happiness,” to have the tree cut -down, fastened on rollers, and sent to Baghdád. -When intelligence of this came to the people of the -district and the inhabitants of Khorasan, they assembled -at the foot of the tree, imploring for mercy with -tears and lamentations, and exhibiting a scene of -general desolation. The professors of the excellent -faith offered the governor fifty thousand dinars to -spare the tree, but the offer was refused. When the -<a name="Page_308" id="Page_308"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 308</span> -cypress was felled, it caused great detriment to the -buildings and water-courses of the country; the -birds of different kinds which had built their nests -on it issued forth in such countless myriads as to -darken the air, screaming out in agony with various -tones of distress: the very oxen, sheep, and other -animals which reposed under its sheltering shade, -commenced such piteous moans of woe that it was -impossible to listen to them. The expense of conveying -the trunk to Baghdad was five hundred thousand -dinars; the very branches loaded one thousand and -three hundred camels. When the tree had reached -one station from the Jaafriyah quarter, on that same -night, Mutawakkal the Abasside was cut in pieces by -his own guards,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_464" id="fnanchor_464"></a><a href="#footnote_464" class="fnanchor">[464]</a></span> -so that he never beheld the tree. -Some Muhammedan writers state the circumference -of the trunk at twenty-seven <dfn>táziáynah</dfn>, each a cubit -and a quarter long, and also that fourteen hundred -and fifty years had elapsed from the time of its being -planted to the year 232 of the Hejirah (846, A. D.).<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_465" id="fnanchor_465"></a><a href="#footnote_465" class="fnanchor">[465]</a></span> -<a name="Page_309" id="Page_309"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 309</span> -The Behdínians say that Zardusht brought with him -from paradise a branch which he planted at the gate -of the fire temple of Kashmir, and which grew up -into this tree: but some sages maintain that, according -to the intelligent, this tradition signifies: 1. that -there is in vegetables a simple uncompounded soul; -and 2. that paradise is the world of beings of that -class. Some Yezdanians say that Zardusht prayed -the superintending lord of cypress-trees, whom they -call <span class="title">Azrawán</span>, to nourish carefully the offspring of -this shoot. They also relate, on the authority of a -holy <dfn>Hakim</dfn>, “doctor,”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_466" id="fnanchor_466"></a><a href="#footnote_466" class="fnanchor">[466]</a></span> -who said: “I saw the Lord -of the cypress, and he declared: ‘I have given -orders to slay Mutawakkal for the crime of cutting -down this tree.’” Muhammed Kuli Salim -also says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“No person wishes to see his own nursling enfeebled.</div> - <div class="i0">Water and fire are ever at enmity with chips and leaves.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>The Behdínians maintain that Ahriman is the production -of Time; and that the angels, heavens, and -stars (always) were, and will (for ever) be: but that -the three kingdoms of nature are a creation. Also -that the period of the present creation is twelve -thousand years, at the expiration of which comes -the resurrection, when God will raise up all mankind -and render this elemental world a glorious -<a name="Page_310" id="Page_310"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 310</span> -paradise, and annihilate Ahriman, his worshippers, -and hell itself. The Dustúr Shah Zadáh says, in -the volume of the <span class="title">Sad Der</span>, or -“the hundred gates,”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_467" id="fnanchor_467"></a><a href="#footnote_467" class="fnanchor">[467]</a></span> -the excellent faith has been received from the prophet -Zardusht, the son of Purshasp, the son of -Khajarasp, the son of Hujjús, the son of Asfantaman: -on him the Almighty graciously bestowed the -<span class="title">Avesta</span> and <span class="title">Zand</span>, and through divine knowledge he -comprehended all things from eternity to infinity. -This is the hundred-gated city constructed from the -world of truth, that is, the celestial volume.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“The mighty, through means of the Asta, Zand, and Pazand,</div> - <div class="i0">Have constructed on its outside a hundred gates.</div> - <div class="i0">Behold what a system of belief Zardusht has introduced,</div> - <div class="i0">In which a hundred gates give admission to his city of Faith.”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the first</span> is the belief and acknowledgment -of Zardusht’s prophetic character; for when the -spirit on the fourth night (after quitting the body) -<a name="Page_311" id="Page_311"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 311</span> -comes to the bridge of Chinavad, where <span class="title">Mihr Ized</span> -and <span class="title">Rash Ized</span> take account of its actions, in the <dfn>Kirfah</dfn>, -or “good deeds” exceed the sins by one hair’s -point, they bear the spirit off to paradise, but always -on the condition of having professed the faith of -Zardusht.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the second.</span> It is necessary to be ever vigilant, -and always looking on a trifling sin as one of -magnitude, to flee far from it; because, if the virtuous -deeds exceed the sinful acts by even the point of -one of the hairs of the eye-lashes, the spirit goes to -paradise; but should the contrary be the case, it -descends to hell.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the third.</span> The pursuits of a man should be -of a virtuous tendency; because, whilst thus engaged, -if he be overpowered by robbers or foes, he shall -receive fourfold in paradise; but if he be slain in any -vain pursuit, it is the retribution due to his acts, -and hell is his abode.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the fourth.</span> A man must not despair of -God’s mercy; for Zardusht says: “I beheld one -whose body, with the exception of one foot, was -entirely in hell; but that foot was outside. The -Lord said: ‘This person, who ruled over thirty-three -cities, never performed good deeds; but -having one day observed a sheep tied up at a -<a name="Page_312" id="Page_312"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 312</span> -distance from her food, he with this foot pushed -the grass near her.’”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_468" id="fnanchor_468"></a><a href="#footnote_468" class="fnanchor">[468]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the fifth.</span> Let all men exert themselves to -observe the rites of <span class="title">Yasht</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_469" id="fnanchor_469"></a><a href="#footnote_469" class="fnanchor">[469]</a></span> -and the <span class="title">Naú Roz</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_470" id="fnanchor_470"></a><a href="#footnote_470" class="fnanchor">[470]</a></span> and if -they cannot themselves perform these duties, let -them purchase the agency of another.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the sixth.</span> Let men know that the meritorious -works are six in number: 1. the observance -of the <dfn>Gahambara</dfn>, or “six periods of creation;” -2. that of the <dfn>Favardigan</dfn>, or “five supplementary -days of the year,” with that of <dfn>Yashtan</dfn>, -“or praying in a low murmuring voice at meals;” -3. propitiating the spirits of thy father, mother, and -other relations; 4. offering up supplications to the -sun three times every day; 5. offering up prayers to -the moon three times every month, that is, the -beginning, middle, and last day of the moon; 6. -offering up supplications in due form every year.</p> - -<p class="p2"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 313</span> -<span class="sc">Gate the seventh.</span> When sneezing comes on, -repeat the entire of the forms called <span class="title">Ita ahu -virio</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_471" id="fnanchor_471"></a><a href="#footnote_471" class="fnanchor">[471]</a></span> -and the <span class="title">Ashem Vuhu</span>.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the eighth.</span> Be obedient to the Dustúrs -and give them one-tenth of thy wealth; as that is a -most meritorious work, or -<dfn>Kirfah</dfn>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_472" id="fnanchor_472"></a><a href="#footnote_472" class="fnanchor">[472]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 314</span> -<span class="sc">Gate the ninth.</span> A person should avoid all practices -not sanctioned by the laws of nature, and must -look on them as accursed: let all those found guilty -of such deeds be put to death. This description of -criminals are equally guilty with the usurper Zohak, -and Alkus,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_473" id="fnanchor_473"></a><a href="#footnote_473" class="fnanchor">[473]</a></span> -and Sarúrak,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_474" id="fnanchor_474"></a><a href="#footnote_474" class="fnanchor">[474]</a></span> -and Afrasiab, and Turbaraturas.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_475" id="fnanchor_475"></a><a href="#footnote_475" class="fnanchor">[475]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the tenth.</span> It is incumbent on every man and -woman to tie on the <span class="title">Kashti</span>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_476" id="fnanchor_476"></a><a href="#footnote_476" class="fnanchor">[476]</a></span> -By Kashti is meant -a woollen cincture girded round the waist, in which -they make four knots: the first to signify the unity -of God; the second, the certainty of the faith; the -third, that Zardusht was the prophet of God; the -fourth to imply, “that I will to the utmost of my -power ever do what is good.”</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the eleventh.</span> Keep the fire burning, and -let it not consume any thing impure.</p> - -<p class="p2"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 315</span> -<span class="sc">Gate the twelfth.</span> Let not the shroud of the deceased -be new, but let it be clean and old.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the thirteenth.</span> The good man gives joy to -the spirits of his father and mother, by celebrating -the <span class="title">Darun miezd</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_477" id="fnanchor_477"></a><a href="#footnote_477" class="fnanchor">[477]</a></span> -and the <span class="title">Afernigán</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_478" id="fnanchor_478"></a><a href="#footnote_478" class="fnanchor">[478]</a></span> -or “funereal -<a name="Page_316" id="Page_316"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 316</span> -“repasts.” The Darun is a prayer recited in praise -of the Almighty and of Azar: when they breathe out -prayers in a murmuring tone over viands, they are -<a name="Page_317" id="Page_317"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 317</span> -said to be Yeshtah. Afrinigan also means one of the -twenty Nosks of the Zand.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the fourteenth.</span> Let them repeat the Ita -Ahu three times over the collected nail-parings, and -having each time drawn a circular line around them, -let earth be poured on them with the shears, or let -them be taken to some mountain.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_479" id="fnanchor_479"></a><a href="#footnote_479" class="fnanchor">[479]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the fifteenth.</span> Whatever pleasing object -meets the true believer’s sight, he repeats over it -the name of God.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the sixteenth.</span> In the house of a pregnant -woman keep the fire in without ceasing; and when -the child is born, let not the lamp be extinguished -during three days and nights.</p> - -<p>They say that, on the birth of the prophet Zardusht, -there came fifty demons with the design of -slaying him; but they were unable to do him any -injury as there was a fire kept up in the house.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the seventeenth.</span> On arising from sleep, -<a name="Page_318" id="Page_318"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 318</span> -bind the Kashti, without doing which enter upon no -pursuit whatever.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the eighteenth.</span> Let the tooth-pick, after -having been used, be concealed in a wall.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the nineteenth.</span> They give their son and -daughter in marriage at an early period; as the person -who has no son cannot pass over the bridge of -<span class="title">Chinavad</span>; let whoever is in that state adopts some -one; if he should not find it feasible, it will then be -incumbent on his relations and the Dustúr to fix on -a son for him.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the twentieth.</span> They esteem husbandry the -best of all professions, and regard the husbandman -with respect and honor.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the twenty-first.</span> It is meet to give good -viands to the professors of the pure faith.</p> - -<p class="p2"><a name="gate22" id="gate22"></a><span class="sc">Gate the -twenty-second.</span> At the time of eating -bread it is necessary to perform -<span class="title">Váj</span>:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_480" id="fnanchor_480"></a><a href="#footnote_480" class="fnanchor">[480]</a></span> -and at the -<a name="Page_319" id="Page_319"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 319</span> -time of <span class="time">Maizad</span> and <span class="time">Afrinigán</span> to keep the lips closed; -the true believer repeats the entire of the <span class="title">Esha âad -avizmidi</span> three times, and then eats bread; and when -he washes his mouth, he repeats <span class="title">Ashem Vuhu</span> four -times, and the <span class="title">Ita ahu virio</span> twice. It is to be remarked, -that <span class="title">Wáj</span> or <span class="title">Váj</span> is the -<dfn>Barsom</dfn>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_481" id="fnanchor_481"></a><a href="#footnote_481" class="fnanchor">[481]</a></span> -which consists -of small twigs of the same length, without -knots, taken from the pomegranate, tamarisk, or -<a name="Page_320" id="Page_320"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 320</span> -<span class="title">Hum</span>; these they cut with a <dfn>Barsomchin</dfn>, or knife with -an iron handle. Having first washed the knife carefully, -they recite the appointed prayers, after which, -having cut off the Barsom with the Barsomchin, -they wash the Barsomdan, or Barsom-holder, into -which they put these small twigs. At the time of -worship, whilst reading the Zand, and during ablution -or eating, they hold in their hand a few of -these twigs, according to the number required in -each of these actions.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the twenty-third.</span> The wealthy man bestows -alms on the indigent Durvesh; he also practises -<span class="title">Jadongoi</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_482" id="fnanchor_482"></a><a href="#footnote_482" class="fnanchor">[482]</a></span>, -which consists in this, whatever donations -the Behdínians make to the fire-temples, or to -deserving objects, are by that person caused to be -expended in the manner desired.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the twenty-fourth.</span> Beware of sin, particularly -the day on which thou eatest flesh, as flesh-meat -is the nutriment of Ahriman. If, after partaking -of meat thou committest sin, whatever sins -the animal has committed in this world shall be -imputed to thee: for example, the kick of the horse, -and the goring of the ox with his horns.</p> - -<p class="p2"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 321</span> -<span class="sc">Gate the twenty-fifth.</span> Know that in thy faith -there is no fasting, except that of avoiding sin:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_483" id="fnanchor_483"></a><a href="#footnote_483" class="fnanchor">[483]</a></span> in -which sense thou must fast the whole year, and not -remain hungry from morn until night, and style -that fasting. Thou must endeavor to keep thy members -free from sin, and there will be then no occasion -to keep the lips closed against meat and drink; -but it is altogether necessary to keep them closed -against uttering any evil speech.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the twenty-sixth.</span> As soon as a child is -born let them cause it to taste milk.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the twenty-seventh.</span> When going to bed, -repeat the forms which commence with the Ita; that -is, repeat to the end the <span class="title">Itá Ahu Viríyo</span>, the <span class="title">Eshim -Vahu</span>, etc., etc.; repenting of thy sins of sight and -hearing, known and unknown, committed or meditated, -and imploring forgiveness; also, when thou -<a name="Page_322" id="Page_322"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 322</span> -turnest from one side to the other, repeat the whole -of the Eshim.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the twenty-eighth.</span> When thou enterest -into a covenant either with one of the pure faith or -an unbeliever (<dfn>Durwand</dfn>), break it not, but maintain -it inviolate.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the twenty-ninth.</span> When the believer’s son -attains the age of fifteen, the father appoints a Dustúr -for his guidance, without whose direction and -counsel he does nothing; for no good work is acceptable -to God, unless the Dustúr be satisfied; he truly -possesses such dignity in the sight of God, that he -can remit one-third of any person’s sins. Note, -that the title of Dustúr is given to a spiritual director, -or one skilled in the faith of Zaratusht.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the thirtieth.</span> When any undertaking occurs, -and thou knowest not whether engaging in it -be good or sinful, desist, and defer the enterprise -until thou hast consulted the Dustúr.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the thirty-first.</span> The believer undertakes -nothing on his own experience merely, without -previously investigating its nature through his Dustúr, -his relation, and the experience of the intelligent.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the thirty-second.</span> Whoever studies the -Avesta must learn to read it in the exact words: he -<a name="Page_323" id="Page_323"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 323</span> -must also meditate on it continually; for should it -depart from his memory, he is guilty of sin. In -ancient times, whoever had learned the Avesta and -forgotten it, was not permitted to join the congregation, -until he had again made himself master of it: -nay, they threw bread before him as they would to -dogs.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the thirty-third.</span> It behoves a man to be -liberal, showing favor to the Arzan, or deserving -objects, for this only is profitable.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the thirty-fourth.</span> The religious pour not -out water at night, particularly towards the <dfn>Wakhtar</dfn>, -or “east;” but should it be indispensable, the believer, -at the time of throwing it out, repeats the -form of words commencing with the <span class="title">Ita</span>, as far as -enjoined. Neither does he draw water from the -well at night; but when there is an inevitable necessity -for it, he recites the formula of the Ita, as enjoined -in their books. They seldom drink water at -night; but if it be unavoidably necessary to drink, -they fetch water from the well: moreover, they -never pour out much water.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the thirty-fifth.</span> When they eat bread, -they lay by three morsels for the dogs, and never -ill use these animals.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the thirty-sixth.</span> When a cock crows out -<a name="Page_324" id="Page_324"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 324</span> -of season, they kill him not, but bring another to -his aid, for the fowl having seen a <dfn>Darji</dfn> (demon) or -some approaching calamity, gives notice of -it.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_484" id="fnanchor_484"></a><a href="#footnote_484" class="fnanchor">[484]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the thirty-seventh.</span> If in any place a person -who is destitute of fear should deposit a <dfn>Nisa</dfn>, or -“carcase” under ground, expose and bring it forth.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the thirty-eighth.</span> It is by no means meet -to slay animals in profusion, as every hair of theirs -will in the other world be as a sword to the destroyer’s -body: but the slaughter of sheep is by far -the most criminal; for they are of the -<dfn>Sardah</dfn>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_485" id="fnanchor_485"></a><a href="#footnote_485" class="fnanchor">[485]</a></span> or -“primary genus.” This prohibition includes the -goat, the kid, and the lamb; the cow and the horse; -also the crowing cock, which during that time is as -a drum: nay, it is equally improper to slay the -cock which crows not; but should it be indispensably -necessary to kill him, it will be proper to -tie his head (that is, to perform the rite of Yashtan -over his head).<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_486" id="fnanchor_486"></a><a href="#footnote_486" class="fnanchor">[486]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 325</span> -<span class="sc">Gate the thirty-ninth.</span> When thou art about to -wash the face, join thy lips, and recite once the formula -of the <span class="title">Ashim Vuhu</span> as far as is prescribed; then -wash thy face; and when thou shavest, recite the -prayer of the <span class="title">Kimna</span> and -<span class="title">Mazda</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_487" id="fnanchor_487"></a><a href="#footnote_487" class="fnanchor">[487]</a></span> -as far as the appointed -place.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the fortieth.</span> Whoever -performs <span class="title">Barashnom</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_488" id="fnanchor_488"></a><a href="#footnote_488" class="fnanchor">[488]</a></span> -must be good in word and deed, for otherwise -<a name="Page_326" id="Page_326"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 326</span> -he is deserving of death. Whoever comes to the -age of fifteen and performs not this rite, renders -whatever he lays his hand on impure like himself. -Note, that <dfn>Barashnom</dfn> signifies the purification of -one’s self by prayer.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the forty-first.</span> On the arrival of the Farvardigán, -the believer performs the <span class="title">Darún Yezd</span>, -<span class="title">Yazish</span>, and <span class="title">Afrín</span> during ten days. The Farvardigán -are five damsels which spin, weave, and sew celestial -garments: their names are <span class="title">Ahnavad</span>, <span class="title">Ashnavad</span>, -<span class="title">Isfintamad</span>, <span class="title">Kukhashatar</span>, <span class="title">Vahshúshpúsh</span>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_489" id="fnanchor_489"></a><a href="#footnote_489" class="fnanchor">[489]</a></span> -Farvardigan<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_490" id="fnanchor_490"></a><a href="#footnote_490" class="fnanchor">[490]</a></span> -<a name="Page_327" id="Page_327"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 327</span> -is the name of the five supplementary or intercalary -days of the Persian year. When the spirit -quits this world it is naked; but whoever has -duly performed the Farvardigán obtains from them -royal robes and celestial ornaments.</p> - -<p>According to the Yezdánián, these five damsels -signify wisdom, heroism, continence, justice, and -intellect;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_491" id="fnanchor_491"></a><a href="#footnote_491" class="fnanchor">[491]</a></span> -and in other passages they call them the -five senses.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the forty-second.</span> The true believer must -beware of associating with those of a different faith; -let him not drink out of the same cup with them. -If an unbeliever pollute a cup made of brass, it must -<a name="Page_328" id="Page_328"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 328</span> -be washed three times: but if it be of earth, it cannot -become pure.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the forty-third.</span> Keep up the fire in thy -house, and at night light it up.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the forty-fourth.</span> Shew honor to thy instructor, -father, and mother; as otherwise in this -world distress shall be thy portion; and in the -next, hell.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the forty-fifth.</span> A woman, in her periodical -illness, must not direct her eyes to the heaven -or the stars; to running water or a Mindáshú; that -is, a pure or celestial man. She is to drink water -out of any vessel except one of earth. When she -eats bread, her hand is to be folded in the sleeve of -her dress,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_492" id="fnanchor_492"></a><a href="#footnote_492" class="fnanchor">[492]</a></span> -and she is to wear a veil on her head.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the forty-sixth.</span> Refrain from Hamiyál, -which means calumny, treachery, and adultery: -for if the woman’s husband forgive not the adulterer, -he cannot, whatever may be his good works, behold -the face of paradise.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the forty-seventh.</span> The believer must slay -the <dfn>Kharástár</dfn>, or “noxious creatures.” Of these -it is most meritorious to destroy water-frogs, serpents, -scorpions, flies, and ants. According to the -<a name="Page_329" id="Page_329"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 329</span> -tenets professed by the true believers, that is, the -<dfn>Yazdáníán</dfn> and <dfn>Abadián</dfn>, it is a meritorious work to -destroy any creature which is injurious to animal -life or oppressive to the animal creation: but the -destruction of any creature which is not injurious -to animal life, is not only improper, but the unjust -oppressor draws down retribution on himself. The -Yezdáníán maintain, that whenever in ancient records -the slaughter of a harmless animal is mentioned, -the expression is used in an enigmatical -sense.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the forty-eighth.</span> It is not proper to walk -barefooted.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the forty-ninth.</span> Repent without ceasing: -for unless attention be paid to this, thy sin accumulates -every year, and becomes more aggravated. -If, which God forbid! thou commit a sin, -go before the Dustúr; and if thou find him not, to -the Hírbud (or minister attending on the sacred -fire); and if thou meet him not, repair to some professor -of the pure faith; and if thou find not such a -one, declare thy repentance before the majesty of -the great light. In like manner, at the moment of -departing from this world, let a man declare his -contrition, and if he be unable, let his son, relative, -or those present, perform this rite of penance at -that time.</p> - -<p class="p2"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 330</span> -<span class="sc">Gate the fiftieth.</span> When a son or daughter -attains the age of fifteen, it becomes necessary to bind -the sacred cincture about the waist, as this forms -the bond of duty.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the fifty-first.</span> If a child should die, from -the first day of its decease during a space of seven -years, “without the expression of grief, recite the -Darún of its angel.” On the fourth night after -its decease, it is necessary to recite with <span class="title">Yasht</span>, the -Darún, or prayer of the angel Surúsh. Note, Yasht -is the name given to one of the twenty-one Nosks -of the -Zand,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_493" id="fnanchor_493"></a><a href="#footnote_493" class="fnanchor">[493]</a></span> -which is recited for the souls of the -deceased: this they also repeat in the <span class="title">Gahanbars: -Nosk</span> also signifies a part or section.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the fifty-second.</span> When thou placest on the -fire a cauldron for dressing food, it must be of a -large size, and two thirds of it without water, so -that when it boils, the water may not fall over on -the fire.</p> - -<p class="p2"><a name="gate53" id="gate53"></a><span class="sc">Gate the -fifty-third.</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_494" id="fnanchor_494"></a><a href="#footnote_494" class="fnanchor">[494]</a></span> -When they remove fire -<a name="Page_331" id="Page_331"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 331</span> -from one place to another, they lay it apart for a -short time, until its place becomes cool; having -taken care not to leave it heated, they bear the fire -to its destined place.</p> - -<p class="p2"><a name="gate54" id="gate54"></a><span class="sc">Gate the -fifty-fourth.</span><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_495" id="fnanchor_495"></a><a href="#footnote_495" class="fnanchor">[495]</a></span> -The true believers wash -the face every morning with the <dfn>Ab-í-zúr</dfn>, or “water -of power,” and afterwards with pure water.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_496" id="fnanchor_496"></a><a href="#footnote_496" class="fnanchor">[496]</a></span> -After this they recite the formula of the <span class="title">Kimna va -Mazda</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_497" id="fnanchor_497"></a><a href="#footnote_497" class="fnanchor">[497]</a></span> -and then wash the hands; this rite they call -<dfn>Pavaj</dfn>; but if they wash not the hands in the <span class="title">Ab-í-zúr</span>, -their recitation is not accepted.</p> - -<p class="p2"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 332</span> -<span class="sc">Gate the fifty-fifth.</span> The faithful instruct their -sons in the knowledge of religion, and hold in high -honor the Kirbud who teaches them.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the fifty-sixth.</span> On the return of the day -of <span class="title">Khurdád</span> in the month of Farvardín (the 6th of -March), they collect in one place a portion of all -the fruits they can find. The true believers then -continue to offer them up and to pray over them, -repeating the praises of the Lord, in order that their -condition may be improved that year; as on this day -the angels give nutriment to mankind. When any -one has thus prayed, the Amshaspand Khurdád -makes intercession for him: this prayer is synonymous -with <span class="title">Khusnuman</span>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_498" id="fnanchor_498"></a><a href="#footnote_498" class="fnanchor">[498]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the fifty-seventh.</span> Whenever any one sets -out on a journey, he must celebrate once the <span class="title">Darún -Yeshté</span>. In ancient times, when they set out on an -excursion of even twelve parasangs, they performed -the same ceremony.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_499" id="fnanchor_499"></a><a href="#footnote_499" class="fnanchor">[499]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 333</span> -<span class="sc">Gate the fifty-eighth.</span> If any one have not a -son, let him adopt one; and let the adopted son -regard him as a father.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the fifty-ninth.</span> Whoever has performed -the rites of Yasht and Naú-Roz, cannot immediately -after celebrate the Darún Yeshté: he first prays mentally -to Ormuzd, and eats bread; and then performs -the rites of mental prayer and the Darun.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the sixtieth.</span> It is improper, whilst in an -erect posture, to make water; it is therefore necessary -to sit down (stoop) and force it to some distance, -repeating the Avesta mentally. The religious -man is then to advance three paces, and repeat once -<a name="Page_334" id="Page_334"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 334</span> -the formula of the <span class="title">Yethá áhú viríyo</span> and the <span class="title">Eshem Vahu</span>, -as far as prescribed. On coming out, he is to repeat -the Eshem once; the formula of the Homoctanne -twice; that of the <span class="title">Hokhshéthrôtemâé</span> three times, and -that of the <span class="title">Yethá</span>, etc., four times; and to repeat to -the end the formula of the <span class="title">Etha aad -iezmede</span>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_500" id="fnanchor_500"></a><a href="#footnote_500" class="fnanchor">[500]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the sixty-first.</span> Slay not the <dfn>Hujjah</dfn> or -weasel, for it is the destroyer of serpents.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the sixty-second.</span> Kill not the water-dog, -or otter, but if thou perceive him far out of the -water, take him back to his -river.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_501" id="fnanchor_501"></a><a href="#footnote_501" class="fnanchor">[501]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 335</span> -<span class="sc">Gate the sixty-third.</span> The believer performs -during his life the rites which ensure his salvation: -the propitiation of the Ized Surúsh is a sacred duty; -it is therefore advisable that every person should -perform it duly in his own -life-time.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_502" id="fnanchor_502"></a><a href="#footnote_502" class="fnanchor">[502]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the sixty-fourth.</span> When any one departs -from this world, the survivors during three days -propitiate Surúsh, light a fire for the deceased, and -recite the Avesta: as the spirit of the deceased remains -there three days, it is therefore necessary to -offer up three Darúns to Surúsh Ized. On the fourth -night, recite one of them to propitiate Rash and -Astad (the angels of the 18th and 26th days of every -month); another for that of the other heavenly -beings; along with the fourth Darún produce complete -dresses, the best and most splendid in thy -power. These they style <dfn>Ashudád</dfn>, or -heaven-bestowed.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_503" id="fnanchor_503"></a><a href="#footnote_503" class="fnanchor">[503]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 336</span> -<span class="sc">Gate the sixty-fifth.</span> Women are not enjoined -to perform any of these Niyayish, except that they -should go three times into their husband’s presence, -and inquire what his wishes may be. They must -never, either by night or day, avert the face from -their husband’s command: which obedience on -their part is serving -God.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_504" id="fnanchor_504"></a><a href="#footnote_504" class="fnanchor">[504]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 337</span> -<span class="sc">Gate the sixty-sixth.</span> The pure faith springs -from this belief, that God has delivered us from -affliction (in the world to come): and should circumstances -occur to any believer which would necessarily -lead him to apostatize from the true faith, let -all exert themselves to the utmost to aid him, so that -he may remain unshaken in the true religion.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the sixty-seventh.</span> Believers never utter a -falsehood, although through it they might attain to -worldly eminence.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the sixty-eighth.</span> They make truth their -profession, and remain free from the degradation of -<span class="title">Goyastah</span> (or -<span class="title">Gogestah</span>).<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_505" id="fnanchor_505"></a><a href="#footnote_505" class="fnanchor">[505]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the sixty-ninth.</span> The believers beware of -any intercourse with a courtesan or unchaste woman, -<a name="Page_338" id="Page_338"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 338</span> -also of voluntary degradation (connivance) -and adultery. For when a libertine engages in -improper correspondence with a woman, she becomes -an abomination to her husband; and if, after -proof of her misconduct, the husband resume his -intimacy with such a wife, he then becomes a <dfn>Rúspi</dfn>, -or utterly contemptible.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the seventieth.</span> If any one steal property -to the amount of one direm, they take from the -thief two direms, cut off the lobes of his ears, inflict -on him ten blows of a stick, and dismiss him -after one hour’s imprisonment. Should he a second -time commit a similar act, and steal to the amount -of a direm, they make him refund two, cut off his -ears, inflict twenty blows, and detain him in prison -two hours: should he after that steal three direms -or two dangs, they cut off his right hand; and if he -steal five hundred direms, they put him to death.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the seventy-first.</span> Beware of open and -secret sin: abstain from bad sights and thoughts. -Offer up thy grateful prayers to the Lord, the most -just and pure Ormuzd, the supreme and adorable -God, who thus declared to his prophet Zardusht: -“Hold it not meet to do unto others what thou -wouldst not have done to thyself: do that unto -the people which, when done to thyself, proves -not disagreeable to thyself.”</p> - -<p class="p2"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 339</span> -<span class="sc">Gate the seventy-second.</span> Direct the Hirbud to -sanctify for thee an oblation or Darún once every -day: if not he, then thyself. It is to be observed -that Yazish has the sense of <span class="title">Yashtan</span>; also that <span class="title">Darún</span> -(the first letter with <span class="title">Zemma</span>) means a prayer in praise -of the Lord and of fire, which being recited by the -professors of the pure faith, they breathe over the -viands; whatever has been thus breathed over they -call <span class="title">Yashtah</span>: for <dfn>Yashtan</dfn> signifies the reciting of a -prayer.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the seventy-third.</span> Let women perform the -rites of oblation in the month of Aban (the 8th -month), so that they may be purified from their -illness and attain paradise.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the seventy-fourth.</span> Beware of committing -adultery; for when the wife of a stranger has been -four times visited by a strange man, she becomes -accursed to her husband: to put such a woman to -death is more meritorious than slaying beasts of -prey.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the seventy-fifth.</span> A woman during her -illness is not to look at the fire, to sit in water, behold -the sun, or hold conversation with a man. -Two women, during their illness, are not to sleep -in the same bed, or look up to heaven. Women in -this state are to drink out of leaden vessels, and not -to lay their (bare) hands on bread. The drinking-vessel -<a name="Page_340" id="Page_340"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 340</span> -is to be half-filled with water, and not filled -up to the brim. They are to fold their hand in the -sleeve of their mantle and then lay hold of the vessel: -they must not sit in the sun. On the birth of a -child, the infant is to undergo ablution along with -the mother.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the seventy-sixth.</span> A fire is not to be lighted -in a situation exposed to the sun’s rays: also place -not over the fire any thing through the interstices of -which the sun may shine. But before the time of -Mah Abád it was held praiseworthy to light a fire -in face of the great luminary for the purpose of -making fumigations.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the seventy-seventh.</span> They show the Nisa -or dead body to a dog, at the moment the person -gives up the soul:<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_506" id="fnanchor_506"></a><a href="#footnote_506" class="fnanchor">[506]</a></span> -and again when they convey it -to the burial-place. When removing the body, the -<a name="Page_341" id="Page_341"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 341</span> -bearers fasten their hands together with a cord, so -that it comes to all their hands and keeps them close -to each other; they bear the body along in perfect -silence; and if the deceased be a woman advanced -in her pregnancy, there are then four bearers instead -of two. According to the precepts of Mah -Abád, if the woman be pregnant, they are to extract -the fœtus and bring it up: the same holds good respecting -all animals. Finally, when the professors -of the pure faith have conveyed the corpse to the -<dfn>Dad Gah</dfn>, or “place for depositing the dead,” the -bearers wash themselves and put on fresh garments.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the seventy-eighth.</span> It is necessary to beware -of (contact with) the wooden frame on which -the dead body has been carried or washed; also of -that on which any one has been hung; or one -touched by a woman during her illness.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the seventy-ninth.</span> If, during a malady, the -physician prescribe the eating of any dead animal, -let the patient comply without repugnance and partake -of it.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the eightieth.</span> A dead body is not to be -committed to water or -fire.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_507" id="fnanchor_507"></a><a href="#footnote_507" class="fnanchor">[507]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 342</span> -<span class="sc">Gate the eighty-first.</span> If any one force a professor -of the pure faith to partake of the flesh of a -dead body, or even throw it at him, he must perform -the Barashnom and recite the <span class="title">Patet Iran</span>. Note: -that is, he must repent, and implore pardon, and -exert himself in good works, that he may escape -going to hell.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_508" id="fnanchor_508"></a><a href="#footnote_508" class="fnanchor">[508]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the eighty-second.</span> If any animal partake -of a dead body, it continues unclean during a whole -year.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_509" id="fnanchor_509"></a><a href="#footnote_509" class="fnanchor">[509]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the eighty-third.</span> Nothing should be given -(to the unworthy) unless through dread of the oppressor: -that is, if believers apprehend not danger -from the sinner, and do not entertain alarm at his -power of doing them injury, they are not to give -him any thing.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the eighty-fourth.</span> In the morning, on -arising from sleep, rub thy hands with something, -then thrice wash thy face, thy arms from the wrist -<a name="Page_343" id="Page_343"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 343</span> -to the elbow, and thy foot as far as the leg; reciting -the <span class="title">Avesta</span> at the same time. If the believer cannot -find water, he is then permitted to use dust.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the eighty-fifth.</span> When the husbandman -introduces water for the irrigation of his own fields, -he carefully observes that there be not a dead body -in the stream.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the eighty-sixth.</span> A woman after parturition -must during forty days beware of using vessels -of wood or earth, and is not to cross the threshold of -the house. She is then to wash her head: during -all this time her husband is not to approach her.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the eighty-seventh.</span> If a woman be delivered -of a dead child previous to four months’ gestation, -as it is without a soul, it is not to be regarded -as a dead body; but should this occur after the term -of four months, it is then to be looked on as a dead -body, and to be conveyed to burial with the usual -ceremonies.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the eighty-eighth.</span> When a death occurs, -the people of the house and the relatives of the -deceased are to abstain from meat during three days.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the eighty-ninth.</span> It is incumbent on the -professors of the true faith to be liberal, generous, -and munificent; for God hath declared: “Paradise -is the abode of the liberal.”</p> - -<p class="p2"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 344</span> -<span class="sc">Gate the ninetieth.</span> Reciting the Eshem -Vehu<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_510" id="fnanchor_510"></a><a href="#footnote_510" class="fnanchor">[510]</a></span> -is attended with countless merits: it is necessary to -do this at the time of eating bread, of going to sleep, -at midnight, on turning from one side to the other, -and at the time of rising up in the morning.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the ninety-first.</span> You must not put off the -good work of to-day until the morrow, for God declared -thus to Zardusht: “Putting off the duties of -this day until the following, brings with it cause -of regret. O Zardusht! no one in the world is -superior to thee in my sight. For thy sake I have -even created it;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_511" id="fnanchor_511"></a><a href="#footnote_511" class="fnanchor">[511]</a></span> -and princes earnestly desire to -diffuse the true faith in thy life-time. From the -age of Kaíomars to thine, three thousand years -have elapsed;<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_512" id="fnanchor_512"></a><a href="#footnote_512" class="fnanchor">[512]</a></span> -and from thee to the resurrection -is a period of three thousand years: thus I have -created thee in the middle, as that point is most -worthy of admiration. Moreover I have rendered -obedient to thee king Gushtasp, the wisest -<a name="Page_345" id="Page_345"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 345</span> -and most prudent sovereign of the age; whose -eminence arises from science and perfect morals, -not merely from high birth and lineage. I have -also given thee a volume such as the <span class="title">Avesta</span>, and -in like manner a perspicuous commentary on it. -Expect not that, after thou hast passed away, -others will perform good works for thee. Know -that Gokhastah or Ahriman has expressly appointed -two demons, named Tardiness and Procrastination, -for putting off the performance of -good works to a remote and future period.”</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the ninety-second.</span> Whatever is polluted by -a dead body must be purified by <span class="title">Pávyáb</span> water according -to this rule: gold once; silver twice; tin -and copper thrice; steel four times; stone six times; -earthen and wooden vessels must be thrown away. -<dfn>Pávyáb</dfn> signifies to wash with certain forms of -prayer.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_513" id="fnanchor_513"></a><a href="#footnote_513" class="fnanchor">[513]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the ninety-third.</span> Shew vigilant attention -to the fire of <span class="title">Adar Behrám</span>, and to his attendant (genii); -light up the fire every night and cast perfumes -into it.</p> - -<p>Note: Var (Adar) Behrám<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_514" id="fnanchor_514"></a><a href="#footnote_514" class="fnanchor">[514]</a></span> -is the name of the -<a name="Page_346" id="Page_346"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 346</span> -angel, the lord of victory, and the bestower of -triumph.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_515" id="fnanchor_515"></a><a href="#footnote_515" class="fnanchor">[515]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the ninety-fourth.</span> The <span class="title">Gáhámbars</span>, which -are six in number, must be observed, because the -Almighty created the world in six periods or times, -the commencement of each period having a particular -name; in order to celebrate each of which commencements, -they pass five days in festivity and rejoicing. -According to the statement in the <cite>Zand</cite>, -the righteous Hormuzd created the whole world in -the space of one year.</p> - -<p><span class="title">The first Gáhámbar</span> is called <dfn>Mídúyzaram</dfn>, as on the -day <span class="title">Khúr</span> (the 11th of the month) <span class="title">Ardibehisht</span>, God -commenced the creation of the heavens, which was -terminated in forty-five days.</p> - -<p><span class="title">The second Gáhambár</span>, called <dfn>Midyúshaham</dfn>, began on -the day of <span class="title">Khúr</span>, in the old month of <span class="title">Tir</span>, in sixty -<a name="Page_347" id="Page_347"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 347</span> -days from which God completed the creation of the -waters.</p> - -<p><span class="title">The third Gáhambár, Pitishahím</span>, commences on the -day of <span class="title">Ashtád</span> (the 26th) of the old <span class="title">Shahrivár</span>, in seventy-five -days from which God terminated the creation -of the earth.</p> - -<p><span class="title">The fourth Gáhambár</span>, called <dfn>Ayad sahrím</dfn>, begins on -the <span class="title">Ashtád</span> of the old month of <span class="title">Mihr</span>, in thirty days -from which the creation of all plants and trees was -completed.</p> - -<p><span class="title">The fifth Gahambar</span>, named <dfn>Mídyárím</dfn>, begins on the -<span class="title">Miher</span> of the old month <span class="title">Ardí</span> (November); God created -from this day, in eighty days, all the animals.</p> - -<p><span class="title">The sixth Gahambar, Hamshpata -mihdim</span>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_516" id="fnanchor_516"></a><a href="#footnote_516" class="fnanchor">[516]</a></span> beginning -on the day of <span class="title">Ahnavad</span>, the first of the five intercalary -or surreptitious days, reckoning from which the Almighty -terminated the creation of the human race -in seventy-five days. Tradition thus ascribes to -Jemshid the origin of the festival of the Gáhambár. -<a name="Page_348" id="Page_348"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 348</span> -In the <cite>Sad-Dár</cite> we find it recorded, that the demon -one day came to Jemshid’s palace, and the king, as -usual, sent him to the kitchen to satisfy his hunger. -The demon having devoured all that was there, and -also swallowed up whatever they brought him beside, -was still unsatisfied. On beholding this, Jemshid -cried out to the Lord, and the most righteous -God sent the angel Behrám (or Jabrael) to say thus -to the king: “Slaughter the red ox, on which pour -vinegar, rue, and garlic; take it when boiled out -of the cauldron, and serve it up to the demon.” -When they had done thus, the demon having tasted -one morsel of it, fled and disappeared, from which -day they instituted the festival of the <span class="title">Gáhambár</span>.</p> - -<p>The Abádiyán say, with respect to the creation, -that the actions of God are not circumscribed by -time. It must however be acknowledged that Jemshid -first established this festival. In the first Gáhambár, -Jemshid, by the command of the Almighty, -began to depict on the ceiling of his palace the representation -of the heavens, which undertaking was -finished in forty-five days. Secondly, on the <span class="title">Khúr</span> -of <span class="title">Tír</span> he was commanded by the Lord to introduce -water into his palace, gardens, city, and cultivated -grounds, which work was completed in the course -of sixty days. Thirdly, on the <span class="title">Ashtád</span> of <span class="title">Shahrivár</span>, -by order of the Almighty (whose name be glorified!) -he cleared the surface of the grounds and palace, -<a name="Page_349" id="Page_349"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 349</span> -and embellished them exceedingly; he levelled the -place of exercise in front of his palace, built houses, -and laid out in due order the city and its streets; all -which was completed in seventy-five days. Fourthly, -on the <span class="title">Ashtád</span> of <span class="title">Mihr</span>, he began to ascertain the properties -of all vegetable productions, and completed -the embellishment of his garden, and terminated -the entire in thirty days. He next, on the day of -<span class="title">Mihr</span> in the month of <span class="title">Dáí</span>, collected all species of -animals in his garden and assigned their suitable -employments to each: to the ox and the ass to carry -burdens; to the horse to serve for riding, and so -forth; which arrangements were completed in seventy -days. Lastly, on the day of <span class="title">Ahnavad</span>, he summoned -mankind to appear in his presence, and assigned -them their respective occupations; the details -of which were finished in the course of seventy days. -He then proclaimed: “The Lord has created all -these things through me;” and commanded five -days to be set apart for rejoicing at the beginning -of each Gáhambár. As to the tradition of the demon’s -appearing and eating up whatever he found, -it is thus explained: by the demon is meant, the -depraved sensual appetite, which loves to eat, sleep, -shed blood, and such like, and is never satiated with -such pursuits; but when the spiritual Jemshid -prayed to the Lord, the Jabriel of intellect came -with this divine communication: “Slay the sensual -<a name="Page_350" id="Page_350"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 350</span> -appetite (which is typified by the ox), that is, -indulge it not in the excesses it demands; next -apply to the cauldron of the body the vinegar of -abstinence, the garlic of reflection, and the rue -of silence; then serve up a portion of this food to -the Satan-like propensities, that the demon may -flee away.” On doing this, he was delivered -from the presence of the evil one. Such was the -enigma propounded to the people by Zardusht respecting -the Gáhambár, and such the solution of it -as given by the Abádián professors, who have interpreted -in a similar manner the whole of Zardusht’s -discourses, which were couched under this enigmatical -form.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the ninety-fifth.</span> When any one does good -to another, the latter should not forget his benefactor’s -goodness.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the ninety-sixth.</span> The believers make <span class="title">Níyáyish</span> -to the sun three times every day: they also -perform the same to the moon and to fire.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the ninety-seventh.</span> They weep not after -the deceased, as the tears thus shed are collected -and form a barrier before the bridge of <span class="title">Chinavad</span>, or -“of judgment,” and prevent the deceased from -passing: but, on reading the <span class="title">Vasta</span> and <span class="title">Zend</span>, they -can pass over.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_517" id="fnanchor_517"></a><a href="#footnote_517" class="fnanchor">[517]</a></span></p> - -<p><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 351</span></p> - -<p><span class="sc">Gate the ninety-eighth.</span> Whoever comes into the -presence of the Dustúrs, Mobeds, or Kirbuds, listens -to what they say, and rejects it not although painful -to him.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the ninety-ninth.</span> The professor of the true -religion ought to understand thoroughly the characters -of the <cite>Avesta</cite> and the <cite>Zend</cite>.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Gate the hundredth.</span> The Mobeds must not instruct -a stranger in the Pehlevi language; for the -Lord commanded Zardusht, saying: “Teach this -science to thy children.”</p> - -<hr class="short" /> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Enumeration of some advantages which arise from -the enigmatical forms of the precepts of Zardusht’s -followers.</span>—The substance of the venerable Zardusht’s -precepts is contained in enigmas and parables, -because with the mass of society, fabulous -narrations, though revolting to reason, excite -stronger impressions. In the next place, if it were -proposed to communicate to an ignorant person the -idea of the existence of the necessarily existing God, -independent of cause, he could not understand the -<a name="Page_352" id="Page_352"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 352</span> -proposition; and if we speak to him concerning the -uncompoundedness of intelligences, the immateriality -of souls, the excellence of the sphere and stars, -he becomes overwhelmed in perplexity and amazement; -being utterly unable to comprehend spiritual -delights or tortures, or discover the exact truth; -whilst the precepts enforced by the figurative expressions -of the law come within the understanding of -high and low, so that they are profited thereby, -and the explanation of the law is attended with a -good reputation both in this world and the next. -The select few undoubtedly comprehend the nature -of certainty, religious abstraction, and philosophy, -although the vulgar, in general, hold these in abhorrence: -it therefore becomes necessary to clothe the -maxims of philosophy in the vestments of law, in -order that all classes of society may derive their -appropriate advantages from that source: these -observations being premised, it is to be remarked, -that some Yazdanian professors express themselves -after this manner:—The book of the <cite>Zend</cite> is of two -kinds; the one perspicuous and without enigmatical -forms of speech, which they call the <dfn>Mah Zand</dfn>, or -“Great Zand;” the second, abounding in enigmatical -and figurative forms of speech, is called the -<dfn>Kah Zand</dfn>, or “Little Zand.” The Mah Zand contained -the precepts of the law promulgated by the -venerable Máhábád, such as the volume of Azar -<a name="Page_353" id="Page_353"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 353</span> -Sassán, and the Mah Zand was lost during the domination -of strangers, particularly the Turks and -Greeks: the Kah Zand still remained, but much of -it was also lost in other subsequent invasions.</p> - -<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Summary of the contents of the Mah Zend.</span>—It -entitles the supreme Lord, Aharmuz, and acknowledges -the existence, immateriality, and uncompoundedness -of his essence; accounting <span class="title">Bahmán</span> the -Great, the first-created being, who is also called -<span class="title">Farvardín</span> the Great, and looked upon and styled -pure and uncompounded; from him was derived -<span class="title">Ardibehesht</span> the Great, along with the sublime soul -and body of the empyrean heaven; from <span class="title">Ardibehesht</span> -the Great proceeded <span class="title">Khurdád</span> the Great; from him -<span class="title">Tír</span> the Great; from him <span class="title">Murdád</span> the Great; from him -<span class="title">Shahrívar</span> the Great; from him <span class="title">Mihr</span> the Great; from -him <span class="title">Abán</span> the Great; from him <span class="title">Azar</span> the Great; and -from him <span class="title">Dai</span> the Great; these are the lords of the -heavens, and after <span class="title">Farvardin</span> the Great, are accounted -as the months as well as the heavens collectively. -In all other points, speculative and practical, such -as the protection of harmless creatures and the destruction -of noxious animals, it agrees with the <cite>Dasátir</cite>. -During the Ashkanian dynasty, the people -conformed to the <cite>Kah Zend</cite>, but as Ardeshir was -obedient to the second Sasán, he, in compliance -with the <cite>Dasátir</cite> and <cite>Mah Zend</cite>, studiously avoided -<a name="Page_354" id="Page_354"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 354</span> -the destruction of harmless animals: for the <cite>Mah -Zand</cite> is a portion of the <cite>Dasátir</cite>. After him, others -adopted the <cite>Kah Zand</cite>. But Nushirvan, under the -guidance of the contemporary <span class="title">Azar Sasán</span>, although -conforming to the <cite>Dasátir</cite> and <cite>Mah Zand</cite>, was during -the whole of his life innocent of the crime of slaying -harmless animals; his successors however followed -the precepts of the <cite>Kah Zend</cite>, until the fifth -Sasán,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_518" id="fnanchor_518"></a><a href="#footnote_518" class="fnanchor">[518]</a></span> -having uttered imprecations against the people of -Iran, they became the victims of privation and -wretchedness.</p> - -<p>The professors of the Abadíán faith say that Ahriman -was produced by Time: they also say that the -angels and the heavens have existed, exist, and will -continue to exist.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_519" id="fnanchor_519"></a><a href="#footnote_519" class="fnanchor">[519]</a></span> -Moreover the belief of the <span class="title">Azar</span> -<a name="Page_355" id="Page_355"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 355</span> -<span class="title">Húshengíáns</span> or <span class="title">Yazdaníáns</span> is, that although the faith -of Zardusht prevailed universally from the time of -Gushtasp to that of Yezdejird, yet that the different -intervening princes glossed it over and made it agree -with the <span class="title">Azar Hushengíán</span> or <span class="title">Mahabadíán</span> system, so -as never to sanction the destruction of animal life; -and as they held the words of Zardusht to be figurative, -they never put them in practice literally when -they contradicted the <span class="title">Azar Hushengíán</span> faith, but -invariably glossed them over.</p> - -<p><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 356</span> -This statement proves that <span class="person">Ardeshir Babegan</span> and -the other Sasáníán princes showed great reverence -to the <span class="person">Azar Sasáníán</span> family and paid them implicit -obedience, as being truly the ministers and worshippers -of the Lord; they besides accounted them -as the legitimate sovereigns, regarding themselves -merely as their lieutenants: in short, when the <span class="title">Azar -Sasáníáns</span> ceased to reign, they exercised the government -in their stead. However the <span class="title">Azar Sasáníáns</span> -followed no faith except that of Máhábád, receiving -no other without the requisite glosses, and -attaching no esteem whatever to the external import -of Zardusht’s precepts: that is, regarding his words -as true, but holding their external import as figurative. -The Behdiníáns also maintain that such was -the system adopted by the kings of old, particularly -by <span class="person">Dárá</span>, <span class="person">Dáráb</span>, <span class="person">Bahmán</span>, -<span class="person">Isfendiár</span>, and <span class="person">Lohrásp</span>.</p> - -<p>The present seems the proper time for stating -some of the enigmatical sayings ascribed to the -Magians or followers of Zardusht, as philosophy is -guarded by such expressions from falling into the -hands of the ignorant, whilst the sages thereby -attain their object.</p> - -<p>It is well known that according to their system -the world had two creators, <span class="title">Yazdan</span> (the Lord), and -<span class="title">Ahriman</span>: but the Lord having entertained this evil -thought, “Perhaps an antagonist may rise up to -oppose me,” Ahriman was produced, from that -<a name="Page_357" id="Page_357"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 357</span> -thought.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_520" id="fnanchor_520"></a><a href="#footnote_520" class="fnanchor">[520]</a></span> -In some places it is mentioned that God -was alone, and gloom having come over him, he -entertained an evil suspicion, on which Ahriman -was produced. They say that Ahriman, who was -outside the world, on looking through a small aperture, -and beholding the Lord surrounded with glory -and majesty, bore him envy and raised up wickedness -and corruption. God then created the angels -to be his host, and with them fought against Ahriman; -but being unable to destroy him, they made -peace with each other on this condition; that Ahriman -should remain in the world during a definite -period; and on his departure it should become the -abode of unalloyed -good.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_521" id="fnanchor_521"></a><a href="#footnote_521" class="fnanchor">[521]</a></span> -<a name="Page_358" id="Page_358"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 358</span> -Jamásp, the venerable sage, says thus: “It is to -be remarked that ‘<dfn>world</dfn>’ is a metaphorical expression -for body; and ‘<dfn>God</dfn>,’ for the aspiration -of the spirit; ‘<dfn>Ahriman</dfn>,’ for the physical temperament; -‘<dfn>the evil thought</dfn>,’ the habitual bias of the -soul to material objects; by ‘<dfn>the wickedness and -corruption of Ahriman, and his war</dfn>,’ are implied -the domination of the sensual passions over spirit; -and what they said of ‘<dfn>the terrestrial world</dfn>,’ means -the same; by ‘<dfn>the creation of angels</dfn>,’ the existence -of praiseworthy qualities and perseverance in pure -morals, with the subjugation of the senses by -means of religious austerities, for the senses constitute -the gratuitous foes of the heart; by ‘<dfn>peace</dfn>,’ -is signified the impossibility of expelling by one -effort the evil propensities which are the armies of -Iblis; that is, excess and extravagance are to be -avoided, and the path of moderation followed; -the circumstance of ‘<dfn>Ahriman’s remaining in the -world for a definite period</dfn>,’ means the ascendancy -and supremacy of the bodily passions, particularly -in early years, and before arriving at mature reflection, -and even during other periods of this mortal -<a name="Page_359" id="Page_359"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 359</span> -life, in certain constitutions; ‘<dfn>the departure of Ahriman -from the world</dfn>’ implies voluntary death, or -religious austerities, or compulsory death, which -is the natural decease; when the soul has by such -means been emancipated, it finds itself adorned -with perfections and attains to its particular -sphere or bliss without alloy.”</p> - -<p>They have said: “Darkness besieged Light and -imprisoned it; on which event the angels having -come to the assistance of Light, Darkness demanded -help from Ahriman, its source; but the -angels having overcome the prince of Darkness, -gave him a respite until the appointed hour -and the predestined death.” As to Darkness -having arisen from the evil thought of Light, the -venerable sage Jamasp says: “The interpretation -of this tradition is the same as that of the preceding; -as thus: The soul is a precious substance, -formed from light; its darkness, the bodily passions; -its confinement and imprisonment, the -dominion of the passions over that luminous -essence, which drag down the souls of the wicked -to the desolation of the lower world; the assistance -of angels, is the obtaining of grace and power -through elevation of mind, proceeding from illumination -from on high, and the ascent of the spirit -to the world of intellect; delay or respite implies -the continuance of the passions until the period of -<a name="Page_360" id="Page_360"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 360</span> -natural death; and the corrupt thought the bias -of the soul to material objects.”</p> - -<p>Dáwar Haryár, the author of the <cite>Dáráí Sekandur</cite>, -having once questioned the author concerning the -enigmatical meanings attached to the words God -and Ahriman, received this answer: “Light is the -same as existence, and darkness signifies non-existence; -God is therefore light or existence, and -Ahriman is darkness or non-existence. When it -is said that Ahriman is opposed to God, the meaning -is, that God is existence, the opposite to which -is non-existence.”</p> - -<p>They say that the creation and production of -diseases, serpents, scorpions, and such like is an -abominable act, originating with Ahriman, which -Jamásp thus explains: “It is evident that diseases, -such as ignorance, folly, pride, negligence, noxious -creatures, (such as) anger, lust, strong passions, -concupiscence, calumny, envy, malignity, covetousness, -treachery, fraud, and the like, arise not -from spirit, but from the elemental constitution.” -They have also said: “An angel is the agent of -good, and Ahriman the agent of evil; and that -God is exempt from both these acts; which the -celebrated sage Jamásp thus explains:—By angel -is implied spirit and the agent of good; which, if -it overcome the senses, engages man in virtuous -words and acts, which are styled ‘good.’ Ahriman, -<a name="Page_361" id="Page_361"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 361</span> -or Satan, in this place means the desires inherent -in the constitution of the senses, which, on -obtaining the victory over spirit, attract it towards -the pleasures of sense, thus making it forget -its original abode; which is denominated -‘evil:’ and as the Almighty has given his creatures -free will, neither are their good or evil deeds to be -imputed to him.” This saying: That the soul of -him who has done evil, having determined on flight -through fear of divine wrath, plunges downwards, -is thus explained by the sage Jamasp: “By ‘<dfn>sinner</dfn>’ -is understood one whose essence is defective; -by ‘<dfn>descent</dfn>,’ turning away from the superior -to corporeal attachments; by ‘<dfn>resolving on flight</dfn>,’ -the strong desires of passion, through the suggestion -of body, until the entire departure of divine -grace.”</p> - -<p>Thus far extend the illustrations of the sage Jamásp. -But that the scope of Zardusht is couched -under allegories agrees with the declaration made -by the great Bahman, the son of Isfendiár, the son -of king Gushtásp, who says: “Zardusht once said -to me: ‘My father and mother delivered me to -nurses, who dwelt in a place far remote from -the city of my birth; with these I remained many -a long year, until I quite forgot my father, mother, -and native town. Suddenly this thought -came over my mind—Who are my parents, -<a name="Page_362" id="Page_362"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 362</span> -and where the place of my birth?—I struggled -hard until I returned naked and bare the way by -which I had come; and having gained my house -and beheld my father and mother, I returned -again to the place where my nurses dwelt. As -the dress worn by the people of this country -was on my person, I shall therefore remain -here until this dress is worn out, and then depart, -in order that it may not be said—He was -unable to perform his office and has run away, -leaving our despised garments.’”</p> - -<p>Bahman, the son of Isfendiár, thus says: “All -that Zardusht uttered was enigmatical: the ‘<dfn>city -and native place</dfn>’ are the angelic world; by ‘<dfn>father</dfn>,’ -is meant the primary intelligence; and by ‘<dfn>mother</dfn>,’ -the universal soul; ‘<dfn>the nurses</dfn>,’ this lower world -and junction with body; ‘<dfn>forgetting the original -abode</dfn>,’ attachment to the elements of body; -‘<dfn>recalling it to memory</dfn>,’ implies the struggle towards -that direction; ‘<dfn>the arriving there</dfn>,’ means -religious austerities; ‘<dfn>the state of nakedness</dfn>,’ the -divesting one’s self of bodily attachments; ‘<dfn>the -returning back to the nurses</dfn>,’ means resuming the -body; ‘<dfn>that it may not be said that he was alarmed -at the performance of duty, and ran off, leaving his -clothes behind; I shall not therefore depart from -hence, until these clothes be worn out</dfn>;—<dfn>the performance -of duty</dfn>,’ signifies the amassing of the -<a name="Page_363" id="Page_363"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 363</span> -capital of knowledge, true faith, and good works; -by ‘<dfn>the clothes being worn out</dfn>,’ is implied the separation -of the bodily members; that is, I will remain -here as long as the body lasts, and after its -dissolution return to my native place.”</p> - -<p>Prince Isfendiár, the son of king Gushtásp, also -tells us: “Zardusht once said to me: ‘A number -of persons once left their native place for the purpose -of acquiring wealth, that on their return -they might pass their time in pleasure and enjoyment. -On arriving at the city of their destination, -some of them amassed wealth; some devoted -themselves to wandering about the place -and contemplating the beauties with which it -abounded; whilst others remained altogether -inactive. When the time of packing up came, -the king of that people said—Depart from hence, -that another set may arrive, and obtain their -portion, as you have done.—On which all these -people went out, some provided with stores for -the journey; some without any provision; a few -on horseback; a multitude on foot; a wide desert -lay before, and a toilsome road, through -rocks and prickly thorns, devoid of cultivation, -destitute of water and shade. Those who were -on horseback and furnished with provisions -passed over, and having reached their native -city, gave themselves up to joy and gladness; -<a name="Page_364" id="Page_364"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 364</span> -those who were on foot, and had provided stores -for the journey, after experiencing many ups -and downs, at last, with extreme difficulty, -reached their halting place, where they passed -their time in a state of happiness proportioned -to their gains, although, on instituting a comparison -between themselves and those inhabitants -and dignified persons who had acquired -opulence by commercial pursuits, they feel pangs -of regret; but those who came out of the city -without any kind of conveyance or stores, and -thinking that without supplies they could reach -their native place, when they had gone some -little distance, became wearied and unable to -proceed through weakness, and fatigue from -walking, want of provisions, the difficulties of -the road, distress, the sun’s overpowering heat, -and the gloom of night; they were forced by -necessity to turn back to the city, where they -had been; but other merchants had in the meantime -taken possession of the houses, dwellings, -shops, and apartments which they formerly -occupied: they were thus reduced to a state of -destitution, and had no resource left but that of -working for hire or turning mendicants, pursuits -which they adopted.’”</p> - -<p>Isfendiar says: “‘<dfn>The city from which they departed -for the purposes of commerce</dfn>’ is the angelic world; -<a name="Page_365" id="Page_365"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 365</span> -<dfn>that to which they came with the design of accumulating -wealth</dfn>’ is the lower world; ‘<dfn>the houses, -shops, etc.</dfn>,’ signify the human body; ‘<dfn>the people -of the city</dfn>’ are the animals, vegetables, and minerals; -‘<dfn>the king</dfn>,’ the elemental nature; ‘<dfn>what the -merchants have amassed</dfn>’ are their words and deeds; -‘<dfn>what others have collected</dfn>’ is devotion without -knowledge; ‘<dfn>the inactive</dfn>’ are those whose only -“pursuits were sleep, sensual gratification, etc.; -‘<dfn>the exclamation of the king</dfn>’ is Death, who expels -them from the mansions of body; ‘<dfn>the deserts and -mountains</dfn>,’ the extremes of heat and cold; ‘<dfn>the -equestrians</dfn>’ are those who unite the speculative -and practical; ‘<dfn>the pedestrians, who were furnished -with some provisions</dfn>’ are those who adore God, -but neither knew themselves nor the Lord; ‘<dfn>they -who are without provisions or conveyance</dfn>’ are those -destitute of knowledge and good works, who -being unable to reach the angelic world, return in -despair to the elemental world, forfeiting the rank -they once possessed.”</p> - -<p>The sage <span class="person">Shah Nasir Khusran</span> says on this head:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“When any one travels this road for that important purpose,</div> - <div class="i0">He takes at least a loaf of bread under his arm:</div> - <div class="i0">How then canst thou, who hast no store, proceed up the mount,</div> - <div class="i0">From the centre of darkness to the zenith of Saturn?”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>In some other parables of Zardusht, which are -here noticed, he speaks thus: “When the travellers, -<a name="Page_366" id="Page_366"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 366</span> -in consequence of the want of stores and fatigue -of walking, return back to the king’s city, not -finding their former beautiful mansions, they settle -themselves in caverns or lanes, hiring themselves -as labourers or subsisting on alms.”</p> - -<p>Esfendiar says: “By this is understood, that when -they quit this mortal frame, they cannot reach the -world on high, owing to their want of knowledge -and good works; being thus rejected, on -their return to the elemental world, they cannot -obtain human bodies, but are invested with the -forms of the brute creation.” As this parable -nearly resembles what has been heretofore mentioned, -it is unnecessary to describe it more in -detail.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> - <div class="poem"> - <div class="i0b">“When thou departest from the inn of the body, there is no other storehouse;</div> - <div class="i0">Why dost thou not therefore procure supplies for the road in this place of sojourn?”</div> - </div> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p>Isfendiar also records: “Zardusht once said: -‘Two persons of one house were partners, and -were both possessed of great capital; they said:—We -have gained a sufficient stock of wealth -in the world, and live and dress in a manner -suitable to our great riches; we now only want -some beloved object, that our existence may be -more blissful: therefore, to attain our desire, it -will be necessary to undertake a journey. They -<a name="Page_367" id="Page_367"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 367</span> -directed their course to a city, the inhabitants -of which were famed for beauty and gracefulness; -on arriving there with the caravan, one -of the partners gave himself up to traversing the -gardens, and was so absorbed in admiring the -beauties of the city, that he attended to no -business whatever, whilst the other partner -obtained a mistress of exquisite beauty. All of -a sudden the garden-door was closed.’”</p> - -<p>Isfendiar says “<dfn>Záíd</dfn> and -<dfn>Amru</dfn><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_522" id="fnanchor_522"></a><a href="#footnote_522" class="fnanchor">[522]</a></span> -may serve as an -example of the two friends; ‘<dfn>the capital and stock</dfn>,’ -the original world; ‘<dfn>the city of beauteous persons</dfn>,’ -this world; ‘<dfn>the desirable beloved object</dfn>,’ good works; -‘<dfn>the rapacious animals, reptiles, and beasts</dfn>’ are -anger, lust, excessive desire, hatred, envy, concupiscence, -malignity, and avarice; ‘<dfn>the herbage -and gardens</dfn>’ are sloth and pride; ‘<dfn>the garden-door</dfn>,’ -the dakhmah (or sepulchral vault); ‘<dfn>the -urn</dfn>,’ the grave, or the place of burying the dead; -‘<dfn>shutting the garden-door</dfn>’ the moment of death.”</p> - -<p>His reasons for enumerating the urn, dakhmah, -and grave are, that according to the faith of Azur -Húshang, or Máhábád, they sometimes put the body -of the deceased into a jar of aqua-fortis, as among -them the body is deposited indifferently either in the -dakhmah or the jar: but the sepulchre is in use -<a name="Page_368" id="Page_368"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 368</span> -among the people of Room, and the funeral pile -among those of Hindustan.</p> - -<p>King Gushtásp also relates the following parable -of Zardusht: “A certain man delivered his son -to a preceptor, saying: ‘Within such a time teach -this boy the accomplishments necessary for a -courtier.’ The boy, however, through a fondness -for pleasure, sport, and amusements, was -unwilling to give himself any trouble, and was -slow in learning any thing; he however every -day secretly brought from home sweetmeats and -agreeable objects, as his tutor had a great inclination -for such enjoyments. When the preceptor’s -time had passed in this manner, and his pupil had -become habituated to revelling, sensual pleasures, -and enjoyments, the tutor at last fell dangerously -indisposed through these excesses, and laid himself -down on the bed of death. His pupil well -knew he had no other place left, and that he -must return to his parents, so that when his -master fell sick, he became sensible of his own -state. Through dread of his father, shame of his -mother, the disgrace of ignorance, and a sense of -contrition, he went not near them, but pined in -melancholy and wandered about in obscurity.”</p> - -<p>This parable has been thus explained by Gushtásp: -“‘<dfn>The preceptor</dfn>’ signifies the five senses; ‘<dfn>the -son</dfn>,’ the immortal spirit; ‘<dfn>the father</dfn>,’ the universal -<a name="Page_369" id="Page_369"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 369</span> -intelligence; ‘<dfn>the mother</dfn>,’ the universal soul; ‘<dfn>the -sweetmeats and mistresses</dfn>,’ worldly enjoyments; -‘<dfn>the indispensable necessity of the immortal spirit</dfn>,’ that -it should, through the senses and the common -reflection which is their instructor, attain the -objects of intellect and amass provisions for its -return, so that it may become the associate of the -only true king. If this purpose be not effected, -it of course feels terror at the death of the body. -When it has become thus biassed to sensual pleasures -and devoid of all goodness, on being separated -from the body, although still possessed of -sufficient energy for mounting on high, yet through -shame and confusion, it feels no desire of arriving -there and beholding its parents, soul and intellect.”</p> - -<p>The venerable Húryár once said to the author: -“I have seen the following narrative in the <cite>Ramazastán</cite> -of Zardusht: ‘The prime minister to the -sovereign of the world had so many sons, that -their number surpassed all computation; these he -first sent to a place of education, where, along -with the children of Rayas (cultivators), they -might attain knowledge. If the minister’s sons -became intelligent, the Dustúr summoned them -to his presence, and enrolled them among the -king’s confidential servants; but if they remained -without science, they were not regarded as the -<a name="Page_370" id="Page_370"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 370</span> -Vizir’s sons, but classed among the Rayas; were -not permitted to come into his presence; and -were cut off from all share in their father’s inheritance.”</p> - -<p>The author replied: “It occurs to me that, by -‘<dfn>the king of the world</dfn>,’ is meant the supreme God -without equal; by ‘<dfn>vizir</dfn>,’ the primary intelligence; -and by ‘<dfn>the sons of the vizir</dfn>,’ the souls -endowed with reason; by ‘<dfn>school</dfn>,’ the elemental -world, and the bodies formed of the elements; -and by ‘<dfn>the children of the common people</dfn>’ the corporeal -senses and passions.”</p> - -<p>When the immortal spirits have acquired knowledge -in this place of education, their father, “Universal -Intelligence,” brings them near himself, -and advances them to the rank of holding intercourse -with the Lord of Eternity: but the souls -which do not acquire knowledge in this school are -not allowed access to the world of uncompounded -beings, the abode of the Universal Intelligence, and -remain banished from the presence of the Creator of -the world; so that they make no advance from the -material bodies of this abode of the elements, which -hold the rank of Rayas, but are excluded from all -share in the inheritance of the primary intelligence -or the acquisition of knowledge.</p> - -<p>Zardusht has also said: “In the upper regions -there exists a mighty ocean, from the vapors of -<a name="Page_371" id="Page_371"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 371</span> -which a great mirage appears in this lower world: -so that nothing save that illusion subsists here; -exactly as nothing besides that ocean exists in the -world on high.”</p> - -<p>The revered ruler of Húryár, having asked the -author the meaning of this parable, received this -answer: “‘<dfn>The mighty ocean</dfn>’ means the absolute -essence and pure existence of God; ‘<dfn>the mirage</dfn>’ -implies contingent existences, which in truth -exist not, but appear to do so, through the -inherent property of God’s absolute existence; -according to this view, he has said: ‘From -the vapors of that ocean has arisen the mirage.’”</p> - -<p>It is recorded in the books composed by Zardusht’s -followers, and also in the ancient histories -of Iran, that at the period of Arjásp’s second invasion -of Balkh, king Gushtasp was partaking of the -hospitality of Zál, in Sistan, and Isfendiar was a -prisoner in Dazh Gambadán; and that Lohorásp, -notwithstanding the religious austerities he performed -through divine favor, laid aside the robes of -mortality in battle, after which the Turks took the -city. A Turk named <span class="person">Turbaratur</span>, or <span class="person">Turbaraturhash</span>, -having entered Zardusht’s oratory, the prophet received -martyrdom by his sword. Zardusht, however, -having thrown at him the rosary (<span class="title">Shumar Afin</span>, -or <span class="title">Yád Afráz</span>) which he held in his hand, there proceeded -<a name="Page_372" id="Page_372"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 372</span> -from it such effulgent splendor, that its fire -fell on Turburatur and consumed -him.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_523" id="fnanchor_523"></a><a href="#footnote_523" class="fnanchor">[523]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_382" id="footnote_382"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_382"><span class="muchsmaller">[382]</span></a> - If the claims to originality and antiquity of the language in which the -Desátir is written were admitted, we should have (<abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 146, 147, -<abbr title="English translation">Engl. -transl.</abbr>) <span class="person">Hertushád</span> or <span class="person">Hertúrásh</span>, -as the first and true name of the Persian -prophet who followed immediately Kái Khusro. In Zand, upon which language -we are now better informed, the true name of this legislator of the -Persians is <span class="person">Zerethoshtró</span>, or <span class="person">Zarathustra</span>, -which signifies “star of gold;” -of this was formed in the Pehlevi language the name of <span class="title">Zaratesht</span> or -<span class="title">Zaratosht</span>, and in Farsi that of <span class="title">Zardúsht</span> -or <span class="title">Zaradusht</span>. The Greeks -have changed the original Zand name, either by removing the “th” in -the middle of it, and thus making it <span class="title">Zereoshtró</span>, -<span class="title">Zoroastrés</span>; or by -omitting the final syllable “tro,” whence it became <span class="title">Zaratos</span>, -<span class="title">Zabratos</span>, -<span class="title">Zaradas</span>, <span class="title">Zarasdés</span>, -<span class="title">Zathraustés</span>; we find, moreover, <span class="title">Zoromasdrès</span>, -<span class="title">Azonaces</span>, and <span class="title">Nazaratús</span>. -The most ancient mention of the name of -Zoroastrès, in Greek books, is to be found in the works of Plato, and -dates therefore from the fourth century before our era. The original -word has been translated by ἀστροδύτης, “he who sacrifices to the stars;” -by <span lang="el" xml:lang="el">ἀστροδέατης</span> “he who contemplates the stars;” -and by “living star.” -These interpretations relate to the character of a priest and of an astronomer, -generally attributed to Zoroaster, who is also believed to have -been the inventor of <em>magic</em>; this word was originally taken in a sense -very different from that which has been given to it in later times, and can -be referred to the name of <span class="title">Magi</span>, or <span class="title">Mobeds</span> -(see <a href="#footnote_233">note</a>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 17), well known -to Herodotus in the fifth century B. C. These Magi are represented as the -teachers and priests of a most pure philosophy and religion, the origin of -which is placed by the Desátir and the Dabistán in the most remote and -ante-historical times of the Máhábádiáns. It may therefore appear less -surprising to find in Pliny’s Natural History (<abbr title="One thirty chapter">I. -xxx. c.</abbr> 1. 2.) Zoroaster -placed, pursuant to the authority of Aristotle and Eudoxus, 6000 years -before the death of Plato, and, conformably to Hermippus, 5000 years -before the Trojan war. The last date is repeated by Plutarch (lib. de Is. -et Osir.). Diogenes Laertius says: “Hermodoros, a Platonic philosopher, -counts 5000 years from the establishment of the Magi to the destruction -of Troy.” According to Suidas, a Zoroaster lived 500 years before the -Trojan war; if the number 500 had been erroneously substituted for -5000, which is admissible (see <abbr title="Monsieur" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">M.</abbr> -de Fortia d’Urban, <cite>Mathématiciens -illustres</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 354), we should have the agreement of all these creditable -authors just mentioned, from the fourth century before, to the twelfth -century after, our era, in fixing the age of Zoroaster and the establishment -of the Magi, 6352 or 6194 years B. C.</p> - -<p class="footnote">The epocha of the Magi (putting aside that of the Máhábádiáns) has also -been taken for that of Tahmuras and Jemshid, that is, 3460 or 3429 years -B. C. According to other accounts (collected in the Hist. Diction. of Moreri, -Bayle, etc., etc.), a Zoroaster ruled the Bactrian empire in the times -of Ninus, the Assyrian king, 2200 years B. C.; vanquished by the latter, -he desired to be consumed by the fire of heaven, and exhorted the Assyrians -to preserve his ashes as a palladium of their empire; after he -had been killed by lightning, his last will was executed. Some historians -(see Herbelot <span class="decoration" lang="la" xml:lang="la">sub voce</span>) admit a Zerdúsht in the age of Feridún, 1729 -years B. C. Several other learned men concur in placing him much later, -few below the sixth century before our era.</p> - -<p class="footnote">In the utter impossibility to decide upon so many conflicting statements, -there is perhaps no better means of reconciling them all, than concluding -that Zoroaster having, in the course of ages, become a generic or appellative -name for sages, prophets, and kings professing and promoting a -certain religion or philosophy, this name could be applied to several individuals -who appeared at different times, and in different countries of Asia. -Hence we explain in the various accounts a plurality of Zoroasters, and an -identity of several personages with one Zoroaster; he has indeed been supposed -to be the same with <span class="person">Japhet</span>, <span class="person">Ham</span> -(<span class="person">Heemo</span>), <span class="person">Zohak</span>, -<span class="person">Nimrod</span>, <span class="person">Buddha</span>, -<span class="person">Abraham</span>, <span class="person">Moses</span>, -<span class="person">Ezekiel</span>, <span class="person">Balâam</span>, etc., etc. Whatever it be, the Dabistán -treats in this chapter of the Zardúsht, who appeared under the -reign of Gushtasp, king of Persia, upon whose epocha too our chronologers -are not unanimous.</p> - -<p class="footnote">Independently of the Dasátir, written originally in a particular language, -the Persians have Zand books which they attribute to the last -Zoroaster himself. Except these works, the age of which is a subject of -dispute, they have no written records of their great legislator prior to the -ninth or tenth century of our era, and these are the poems of Dakiki and -Ferdusi. The latter narrates, in his Shah-nameh, the history of Zerdúsht -under the reign of Gushtasp. We have besides a Shah nameh <span class="title">naser</span>, or a -Shah-nameh in prose, composed by some one of the Magi (<cite>Hyde</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 324). -The <span class="title">Zardusht-nameh</span>, and the <span class="title">Changragatcha-nameh</span> are Persian poems, -the epocha of which, according to Anquetil du Perron (<cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, <abbr title="tome One pages">t. I. -pp.</abbr> 6, can scarcely be fixed farther back than the fifteenth century.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_383" id="footnote_383"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_383"><span class="muchsmaller">[383]</span></a> - This is also related in Mirkhond’s <cite>Runzat-us-Safa</cite> (Shea’s <abbr title="translation">transl.</abbr>, -<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 286).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_384" id="footnote_384"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_384"><span class="muchsmaller">[384]</span></a> - Zaratúsht-Bahram is the author of the Zaratúsht-namah before-mentioned -(see <cite>Hyde</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 332). The epoch of this work is uncertain, according -to the opinion of the dostúrs of India; yet the author of it informs -us, in the 2nd chapter, that he has translated it into Persian from the -Pehlvi under the dictation of a Mobed skilled in this language; and in -the last chapter in which he names himself he says that he composed the -Zaratusht-namah in the year 647 of Yezdegerd, which answers to 1276 of -our era (see <cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, <abbr title="tome One Second Part">t. I. 2. P.</abbr> -<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 6).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_385" id="footnote_385"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_385"><span class="muchsmaller">[385]</span></a> - According to Cedrenus, an author of the eleventh century, Zoroaster -descended from Belus or Nimrod: this king is, by some authors, -identified with Zohák, who married two daughters of Djemchid, from -whom also Faridun descended; on account of this relationship, Zoroaster’s -origin may without contradiction be referred to Belus and to Faridun. -In the Desâtir, the name of his father is <span class="title">Heresfetmád</span>. -According to the -authority of the book Sad-der (see <cite>Hyde</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 316), -<span class="person">Patirásp</span>, the grandfather -of Zoroaster, descended from <span class="person">Hitcherasp</span>, who sprung from -<span class="person">Tchechshúnesh</span>, -and this from <span class="person">Espintaman</span>, or <span class="person">Sad-yuman</span>; -who is therefore the -third ancestor of the prophet: nevertheless this last is often called simply -<span class="title">Espintaman</span>, or also <span class="title">Sapetman</span>; -which word, according to Anquetil du -Perron (<abbr title="tome One, Second (part), page">t. I. 2. p.</abbr> 9), -signifies “excellent.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_386" id="footnote_386"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_386"><span class="muchsmaller">[386]</span></a> - The same dream is related in the <cite>Zardusht-namah</cite> (<abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 3 and 4), as -well as in the work of Henry Lord (<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 451), quoted by Anquetil du -Perron (<cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, <abbr title="tome One Second part page">t. I. 2. P. -p.</abbr> 11).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_387" id="footnote_387"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_387"><span class="muchsmaller">[387]</span></a> - The tradition of this appears to be widely spread, not only in the -East but also in the West, as it is mentioned by Pliny (<abbr title="Naturalis Historiæ, -One, seven, chapter">H. N. I. vii. c.</abbr> 16), -with the addition of one wonderful particular, namely, that Zartusht’s -brain palpitated so much as to repel the hand laid upon his head, a presage -of future science. Solinus (<abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 1) relates the same fact. Zoroaster is -proverbially known as the first child who laughed on being born.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_388" id="footnote_388"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_388"><span class="muchsmaller">[388]</span></a> - See <a href="#footnote_382">note</a>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 211. -This name has also been supposed a mere corruption -of <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">ازر دوست</span>, <dfn>azer dóst</dfn>, -that is, “a friend of fire” (see Hyde, who -rejects it, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 314).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_389" id="footnote_389"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_389"><span class="muchsmaller">[389]</span></a> - The same circumstances of the child’s dangers and miraculous escapes -are related in the <cite>Zardusht-namah</cite> (<abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 7-11), -and in <cite>Changrégatha-namah</cite> -(<abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 2).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_390" id="footnote_390"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_390"><span class="muchsmaller">[390]</span></a> - In the <cite>Zardusht-nameh</cite>, the name of the magician is Turberatorsh.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_391" id="footnote_391"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_391"><span class="muchsmaller">[391]</span></a> - The edition of Calcutta reads generally <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">ژند</span>, -<span class="trans">zhand</span>; we shall keep -the more familiar name, <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">زند</span>, <span class="trans">zand</span>. -We find also <span class="trans">Avesta-zand</span>, and -simply <span class="trans">Asta</span> and <span class="trans">zand</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote">Herbelot has interpreted this name of Zoroaster’s writings by “the -book of life.” Hyde thought (<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 336) that -<span class="title">Zand Avesta</span> was properly -<span class="title">Zand va Esta</span>, or <span class="title">Zand u Esta</span>, -and <span class="title">Zand</span>, an Arabic word signifying -“igniarium, focile, pixis ignaria,” joined to the Hebrew-Chaldaic word -<span class="trans">Eshta</span>, or <span class="trans">Esta</span>, “ignis,” -and explained the whole name by “igniarium” -and “ignis,” or “tinder and fire.” According to Anquetil du Perron -(<cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, <abbr title="tome Two page">t. II. p.</abbr> 423), -<dfn>zand</dfn> signifies “living,” and <span class="title">Avesta</span>, “word;” -therefore <span class="title">Zand-Avesta</span>, “the living word;” which was anciently the law -of the countries limited by the Euphrates, the Oxus, and the Indian -ocean (<cite>ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="tome one page 14">t. I. p. xiv</abbr>). -This law or religion is still professed by the -descendants of the Persians who, conquered by the Muhammedans, have -not submitted to the Koran; they partly inhabit Kirman, and partly the -western coast of India, to the north and south of Surat. It is besides -now decided by the investigations of the above-named author, and by those -of Kleuker, Rask, as well as by those of Messrs. Eugene Burnouf, Bopp, -Lassen, and other philologers, that Zand was an ancient language derived -from the same source as the Sanskrit; it was spoken before the -Christian era, particularly in the countries situated to the west of the -Caspian sea, namely in Georgia, Iran proper, and Azerbijan (the northern -Media). Moreover the <dfn>Pa-zand</dfn> denotes a dialect derived from the Zand, -or a mixed Zand, similar to the Rabbinic language of the Jews (<cite><abbr title="Zand-Avesta">Z.-Av.</abbr></cite>, -<abbr title="tome Two pages">t. II. pp.</abbr> 67, 68).</p> - -<p class="footnote">It is generally known that Anquetil du Perron brought, in the year 1762, -from Surat in India, and deposited in the Royal library of Paris, several -Zand, Pehlvi, and Persian works, which, according to his opinion, were -partly the original works written by Zoroaster himself, partly translated, or -at least derived from original works of the Persian prophet. These writings, -namely <span class="title">The Vendidad</span>, in Zand and Pehlvi, were brought about the year -1276, by the Dostur Ardeshir, from Sistan to Guzerat, and there communicated -to the Parsees, who made two copies of them; from these come all -the <span class="title">Vendidads</span>, Zand and Pehlvi, of Guzerat. These works, parts of which -only existed in England, were then for the first time translated into an -European language, and published in French by Anquetil. Examined as -monuments of an ancient religion and literature of the Persians, they -have been differently appreciated by learned men, and their authenticity -denied by some, among whom the most conspicuous are sir William -Jones, Richardson, and Meiners, and defended by others, by none with -more zeal than John Frederic Kleuker, who not only translated Anquetil’s -<span class="title">Zand-Avesta</span> into German, in three volumes, but in an appendix of two -volumes (all in quarto) commented and discussed with great judgment, -sagacity, and erudition, all that relates to the Zand-books attributed to -Zoroaster. Here follow, as shortly as possible, the principal results of -his laborious investigations:—testimonies of the existence of works attributed -to Zoroaster are found in Greek authors who lived before our era. -It was in the sixth century B. C. that the Persian religion and philosophy -became known in Europe by Hostanes, the Archimagus who accompanied -Xerxes in his expedition against Greece. In the fourth century B. C., Plato, -Aristotle, and Theopompus show a knowledge of Zoroaster’s works. In -the third century B. C., Hermippus treats expressly of them, as containing -not less than 120,000 distichs. Soon after the beginning of the Christian -era, works attributed to Zoroaster are mentioned under different names -by Nicolaus of Damascus, Strabo, Pausanius, Pliny, and Dion Chrysostomus. -St. Clement of Alexandria, in the third century, was not unacquainted -with them. Later, the Gnostics made a great use of the oriental -cosmogony and psychology as derived from Zoroaster. The testimony of -Eusebius establishes that, in the fourth century, there existed a collection -of sacred works respecting the theology and religion of the Persians. It -was mostly the liturgical part of them that was spread about, mixed with -notions relative to the magical art. The empress Eudokia of the fifth, -and Suidas of the twelfth, century, attribute to Zoroaster several books, -four of which treat of nature, one of precious stones, and five of astrology -and prognostics. So much and more can be gathered from Greek and -Latin works about the writings of the Persian legislator.</p> - -<p class="footnote">The records of the Muhammedans concerning them begin only in the -ninth century, by Muhammed Abu Jafar Ebn Jerir el Tabari (Hyde, 317-319), -according to whom Zoroaster wrote his revelations upon 12,000 cow-skins -(or parchment folios). Abu Muhammed Mustapha, in his life of Gushtasp, -says: “Zoroaster wrote the just-mentioned work in 12 tomes, each of which -formed a bullock’s load.” Both authors say that the Persian king deposited -these books, magnificently ornamented, in Istakhar. By several other -authors, from the ninth to the seventeenth century, it is positively established -that the books of the Zand-Avesta existed in all the centuries in -which the Muhammedans had intercourse with the disciples of Zartusht. -Works composed by the latter are: the <span class="title">Bun-Dehesh</span>, the <span class="title">Viraf-nameh</span>, -the <span class="title">Sad-der Bun-Dehesh</span>, the <span class="title">Ulemai-Islam</span>, -the <span class="title">Ravacts</span> (that is, the -correspondence between the Dosturs of Persia and India since the fifteenth -century), the <span class="title">Zaratusht nameh</span>, the -<span class="title">Changragachah namah</span>, and the history -of the flight of the Parsees to India. In all these works breathes the -spirit of the strongest conviction that authentic works of Zartusht have, -although not entirely, yet partly, been preserved to later days. This -conviction is common to a numerous nation, who adhere to their sacred -books as to the inappreciable inheritance of their forefathers. The generality -of this sentiment is attested by several respectable and intelligent -European travellers in the East, such as Henry Lord, Gabriel de Chinon, -J. B. Tavernier, D. Sanson, the chevalier Chardin, and others.</p> - -<p class="footnote">The name of <span class="title">Zand-Avesta</span> belongs, -among the books published by Anquetil, -exclusively to those the original of which is truly Zand; these alone are -canonical; they are five in number, all theological, for the most part liturgical, -namely: 1. the <span class="title">Izechné</span>, “elevation of the soul, praise, devotion;” -called also <span class="title">the little Avesta</span>; 2. the -<span class="title">Vispered</span>, “the chiefs of the beings -there named;” 3. the <span class="title">Vendidad</span>, which is considered as the foundation -of the law (these three are called together the <span class="title">Vendidad Sadé</span>, “to combat -Ahriman”) 4. the <span class="title">Yeshts Sades</span>, or “a collection of compositions and -of fragments, more or less ancient;” 5. the book <span class="title">Siroz</span>, “thirty days,” -containing praises addressed to the Genius of each day: it is a sort of -liturgical calendar. These are the Zand-books existing in our days; the -originals of them are said by the learned Foucher to have been composed -under the reign of Gushtasp, whom he places before the time assigned to -Darius Hystaspes, whilst Anquetil and other modern authors identify -under these names a king of Persia, who lived about the middle of the -sixth century before our era. We may reasonably believe that the Zand-books -were written at a time when the Zand was a living, nay the dominant -language, in those countries where these books first appeared; that -is, in Georgia, in Iran, and in Azerbijan. Now, if it be admitted that the -Zand was in these countries quite a dead language already, under the -Ashkanian dynasty of Persia (the Arsacides), the first of whom, <span class="person">Aghush</span>, -began to reign 310 years B. C., it will follow, that the Zand-books were -written long before that time, that is, most likely at least, so early so the -sixth century before the Christian era.</p> - -<p class="footnote">Besides the original Zand-books, Anquetil translated also from the -modern Persian the <span class="title">Bun-Dehesh</span>. This is a collection of treatises upon -several points, ranged under 34 sections—a sort of encyclopædia, theological, -cosmological, historical, and political. This work is written in -Pehlvi, and believed to be the translation of a Zand original no more -to be found in India. It is the most ancient of the modern works of the -Parsees, and was written probably about the seventh century of our era.</p> - -<p class="footnote">What may confirm us in the opinion that these books, still in the hands -of the Parsees, are truly derived from much more ancient works is, that -their contents agree in a great number of principal points with the doctrine -attributed to the Magi and to Zoroaster by ancient Greek authors, of -whom the later Parsees had certainly not the least knowledge, whilst -their Zand-books contain the names of the first and most ancient kings of -the Medes and Persians, and no other but those, of whom the Greeks -knew nothing. No king and no private person, after Gushtasp and -Zoroaster, are mentioned in the Zand-books.</p> - -<p class="footnote">Sixty years had elapsed since the publication of the Zand-Avesta by -Anquetil, when M. Eugène Burnouf undertook a revision and commentary -of that part of the Zand-works which the first had translated and -published, under the Pehlvi name of <span class="title">Iseshné</span>, and which, in Zand, is -entitled <span class="title">Yasna</span>. Among the manuscripts which Anquetil had brought -from India was a Sanskrit translation, made towards the end of the fifteenth -century by a Dostur called Neriosengh, probably from a Pehlvi -version of a Zand original. M. Eugène Burnouf, to give a better interpretation -of the Zand text, not only availed himself of the double translation, -executed by Neriosengh and Anquetil, but also, independently of -both, applied the principles of comparative philology to the analysis of -many Zand-words, the true signification of which he fixed, and by various -judicious observations, interspersed in his commentary, threw light upon -the geography, history, and religion of ancient Persia. He published in -1833 the first volume of his work, under the title “Commentaire sur le -Yasna:” he had before (1829) published the lithographed Zand text of -it in one folio volume. In 1836 appeared, at Bombay, a lithographed -edition of the same Zand text.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_392" id="footnote_392"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_392"><span class="muchsmaller">[392]</span></a> - Mina, semen virile.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_393" id="footnote_393"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_393"><span class="muchsmaller">[393]</span></a> - The quarrel between Zartusht and his father, and the death of the -head magician, as well as what preceded—these facts are related nearly -in the same manner in the <cite><abbr title="Zerdusht nâmah">Zerd. Nam.</abbr></cite>, -<abbr title="chapter">ch.</abbr> 12-15.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_394" id="footnote_394"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_394"><span class="muchsmaller">[394]</span></a> - Anquetil du Perron states that this expanse of water was the river -Araxes (<abbr title="tome one, Second Part, page">t. 1. 2. P. p.</abbr> 19).</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_395" id="footnote_395"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_395"><span class="muchsmaller">[395]</span></a> - The month of February, the last month of the year.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_396" id="footnote_396"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_396"><span class="muchsmaller">[396]</span></a> - Anquetil du Perron, quoting the <cite><abbr title="Zerdusht nâmah">Zerd. Nam.</abbr></cite>, -<abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 18, says, an army of -serpents, perhaps tribes of Nâgas, which came from the North.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_397" id="footnote_397"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_397"><span class="muchsmaller">[397]</span></a> - Mediomah, cousin to Zardusht, the first who embraced the law; he -meditated on it profoundly, published and practised it: he confers happiness -on cities.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_398" id="footnote_398"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_398"><span class="muchsmaller">[398]</span></a> - April, the second month of the year.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_399" id="footnote_399"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_399"><span class="muchsmaller">[399]</span></a> - Dabati, the name given, in Parsi works, to the Caspian sea.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr>] -Anquetil du Peron says (<abbr title="tome 1, 2 part, page">t. 1. 2. P. p.</abbr> 21) -that he passed the Cyrus on -his way to the Caspian sea.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_400" id="footnote_400"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_400"><span class="muchsmaller">[400]</span></a> - Anquetil du Peron says here, quoting H. Lord, that Zardusht retired -to the mountains for consulting the Supreme Being, and adds in a note -that, according to the Vendidad, it was upon the mount Alborz that he -consulted Hormuzd (<abbr title="tome 1, 2 part, page">t. 1. 2. P. p.</abbr> 22). -The geographical situation of -this mountain has been indicated in the note at <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 22; -but by the religion -of the Parsees it is placed in the supernatural world, to which Zoroaster was -transported, as related above. The sacred Alborz is the first of mountains; -it attained its first elevation in fifteen years, and took eight hundred years -to complete its growth; it rose up from the middle of the earth to the -region of the first light, the delightful abode of Mithra, of whom hereafter; -the sun and the moon depart from and return to this mountain every -day (see <abbr title="Zend-Avesta, tome 2, pages"><cite>Zend-Av.</cite>, t. II. pp.</abbr> -206, 207, 214, 357, 361, 364, and elsewhere).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_401" id="footnote_401"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_401"><span class="muchsmaller">[401]</span></a> - See <a href="#footnote_385">note, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 215</a>. Zardusht is called the son of Espintaman. The -edition of Calcutta reads Askiman; the manuscript of Oude, Askatamán.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_402" id="footnote_402"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_402"><span class="muchsmaller">[402]</span></a> - The Amshásfands are the six first celestial spirits after Ormuzd. -Their name is derived from the Zand-words <dfn>emeshe</dfn>, “immortal,” and -<dfn>sepente</dfn>, “excellent, perfect.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_403" id="footnote_403"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_403"><span class="muchsmaller">[403]</span></a> - It is generally acknowledged that Ahriman was the author of evil, -opposed to Ormuzd, the creator and promoter of every good; but different -opinions are entertained upon the origin of these two mighty beings. -According to the most ancient doctrine, both were the productions of a -primordial cause, which is called <dfn>Zaruam akarenê</dfn>, “the boundless time.” -The Zand-books, as well as Shahristani and the Ulemi Islam, make Ahriman -anterior to Ormuzd, that is to say, in plain language, “the evil was -before the good.” These two were, however, not distinguished from -each other before Ahriman had become jealous of Ormuzd, for which he -was condemned by the great creator Time to dwell in the abode of darkness -for twelve thousand years. It was then only that Ormuzd saw with -horror his deformed and frightful adversary, and to oppose the effects of -his existence created, within three thousand years, a celestial region and -a celestial people. Ahriman, long time ignorant of what was preparing -against him, had scarce perceived the light of Ormuzd, when he ran to -destroy it, but, amazed at its beauty, fled back to hell, where he hastened -to produce a host of evil beings. In vain did Ormuzd offer reconciliation -to Ahriman, and even a partnership in the priesthood of the boundless -time; the fiend rejected all terms of peace, and war began to rage -between them (see <abbr title="Zend-Avesta, tome Two, pages"><cite>Zend-Av.</cite>, t. II. pp.</abbr> 345, 347.)</p> - -<p class="footnote">According to the books of the Parsees and of the Muhammedans who -give an account of their doctrine, Ahriman is bad by nature: nor do the -more ancient Zand-books say that he ever was good; yet the explanation -given about this mysterious being can but involve contradictions in more -than one respect. He alone is able to resist Ormuzd, of whom his existence -is entirely independent; he is the king of the beings which he has -created, and which Ormuzd cannot annihilate; nor can the latter prevent -the effects of the power by which his enemy destroys the people of the -just, and banishes the moral good from the earth.</p> - -<p class="footnote">An account of Ahriman’s origin, somewhat different from this, will be -seen hereafter in the Dabistán.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_404" id="footnote_404"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_404"><span class="muchsmaller">[404]</span></a> - These sentiments agree singularly with the following passage of Plato: -<span lang="el" xml:lang="el">Των μεν αγαδων αλλον ουδενα αιτιατεον, των δὲ κακων αλλ’ αττα δει ζητειν τα -αιτια, αλλ’ ου τον Θεον</span> (De Republica). “The author of good is God -alone; but the author of evil any thing else rather than God.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_405" id="footnote_405"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_405"><span class="muchsmaller">[405]</span></a> - According to the Zardusht-nameh quoted by Anquetil (<abbr title="tome One, Second part, page">t. I. 2. P. -p.</abbr> 24) Zardusht delivered from hell a person who had done good and evil. -This person, believe some Parsees, was Jamshid who, towards the end of his -life, wished to be adored as a God. Others say it was Gersh-asp, a famous -warrior, who suffered in hell for having struck the sacred fire.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_406" id="footnote_406"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_406"><span class="muchsmaller">[406]</span></a> - Ardibehest (see <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> <a href="#Page_61">61.</a> <a href="#Page_62">62.</a>) -presides over the second month of the year, -and the 3d, 8th, 15th, and 23d day of the month; he is pure, beneficent, -endowed by Ormuzd with great and holy eyes; he grants health, and -eloquence to men, productions to the earth, and grandeur to the world; -he drives away the Dívs and all evils (<abbr title="Zend-Avesta, Two, pages"><cite>Zend-Av.</cite>, -II, pp.</abbr> 69. 153. 154. -159. 316. and elsewhere).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_407" id="footnote_407"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_407"><span class="muchsmaller">[407]</span></a> - Zoroaster, according to the concurring account of several authors, -retired from the world and lived in a cavern of the mountain Alborz, or -in the mountains of Balkhan. According to the Rauzat us Sufa (Shea’s -<abbr title="translation, page">transl., p.</abbr> 286) it was in the -mountains near Ardebil, a city of Azarbijan -(the ancient Media). This cavern is said to have been consecrated by him -to Mithra. Pliny states (<abbr title="Naturalis Historia, liber eleven, chapter">H. N. -l. xi. c.</abbr> 42), the prophet lived 20 years in -deserts, upon cheese so tempered that he should not feel the effects of age. -This was probably before he appeared at the court of Gushtasp.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_408" id="footnote_408"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_408"><span class="muchsmaller">[408]</span></a> - This miracle is not recorded in Anquetil’s life of Zoroaster.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_409" id="footnote_409"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_409"><span class="muchsmaller">[409]</span></a> - Not receiving immediate access to the king, the prophet split the -upper part of the apartment where Gushtasp was, and descended through -the opening (<abbr title="Anquetil">Anquet.</abbr>, <cite>Vie de Zoroastre</cite>, -<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 29). This was in the year -549 B. C. (<span class="decoration">ibidem</span>), after the 30th year of -Gushtasp’s reign (<cite>Hyde</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 323).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_410" id="footnote_410"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_410"><span class="muchsmaller">[410]</span></a> - To these miracles add that related in the <cite>Shah nameh naser</cite>, quoted -by Hyde (<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 324): Zoroaster planted before the king’s palace a cypress-tree, -which in a few days grew to the height and thickness of ten <dfn>rasons</dfn> -(measure undetermined), and upon the top of it he built a summer-palace.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_411" id="footnote_411"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_411"><span class="muchsmaller">[411]</span></a> - All those particulars about Zoroaster’s imprisonment, and about his -release after the cure effected by him upon the king’s charger are, with -little variation, related in the <cite>Shah-nameh naser</cite> (see Hyde, 325, 327), -and in the <cite>Zerdusht nâmah</cite> -(<abbr title="Anquetil du Peron">Anq. du Peron</abbr>, <abbr title="tome 1, 2 Part, page">t. -I, 2. P. p.</abbr> 325-327).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_412" id="footnote_412"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_412"><span class="muchsmaller">[412]</span></a> - This cure of Lohrasp is touched upon by Anquetil in his life of Zoroaster -(<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 53), but not that of Zerir; Hyde mentions neither; but the -conversion of king Lohrasp and of his relations is generally admitted.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_413" id="footnote_413"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_413"><span class="muchsmaller">[413]</span></a> - See <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 149. <a href="#footnote_351">note</a>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_414" id="footnote_414"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_414"><span class="muchsmaller">[414]</span></a> - See pp. <a href="#footnote_296">61. 62.</a> 241. <a href="#footnote_406">note</a>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_415" id="footnote_415"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_415"><span class="muchsmaller">[415]</span></a> - See <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> <a href="#Page_61">61. 62.</a> Khordad is the sixth Amscháspand; he presides over -the third month of the year and the sixth day of the month; he is a chief of -years, months, days, and of time in general; he grants and aids intelligence; -he causes pure water to run through the world if man lives -holily; he is taken for water itself; he gives what is sweet to eat (<cite>Zand-Avesta</cite>, -<abbr title="One, Two Part, pages">I. 2. P. pp.</abbr> 81. 103. <abbr title="Two, pages">II. pp.</abbr> -69. 97. 153. 157. and elsewhere).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_416" id="footnote_416"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_416"><span class="muchsmaller">[416]</span></a> - See <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> <a href="#Page_61">61. 62.</a> The name of the angel is simply Azar.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_417" id="footnote_417"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_417"><span class="muchsmaller">[417]</span></a> - <dfn>Yasht</dfn>, a Zand word, may be referred to the Sanskrit <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">इष्त्व</span> -<span class="trans">ishtva</span>, -the participle of <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">यज्</span> <span class="trans">yaj</span>, “to venerate.”</p> - -<p class="footnote">The <span class="title">Darun</span> is an office celebrated -particularly for the sake of a king, -or of the Dostur of Dosturs, in honor of celestial beings of different -names and classes (<abbr title="Zend-Avesta, tome Two, page"><cite>Zend-Av.</cite>, t. II. p.</abbr> 73). -Darun is also a little cake -in the shape of a crown piece, which the priest offers to the Ized-Dahman, -who blesses the creatures, the just man, and having received from -the hands of the Serosh the souls of the just, conducts them to heaven -(<cite>ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="tome One, Two, pages">t. I. 2. pp.</abbr> 86. 172).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_418" id="footnote_418"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_418"><span class="muchsmaller">[418]</span></a> - <span class="person">Bishutan</span>, according to some authors was the brother, according to -the <cite>Shah-nameh</cite>, a confidential friend, of Isfendiar.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_419" id="footnote_419"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_419"><span class="muchsmaller">[419]</span></a> - <span class="person">Jamasp</span>, the brother and minister of Gushtasp.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_420" id="footnote_420"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_420"><span class="muchsmaller">[420]</span></a> - <abbr title="Chapter 78 verse">Chapt. LXXVIII. v.</abbr> 38.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_421" id="footnote_421"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_421"><span class="muchsmaller">[421]</span></a> - <abbr title="Chapter 28 verse">Chapt. XXVIII. v.</abbr> 56.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_422" id="footnote_422"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_422"><span class="muchsmaller">[422]</span></a> - According to Abulfeda, quoted by Hyde (<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 315), Zoroaster was born -in <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">ارمی</span> or <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">ارميه</span>, -in Armi or Armia, the most western town of Azarbijan -(the Media of the Greeks), in the Gordian mountains, which accounts -for the surname of Median, or Persian, or Perso-Median, which different -authors have given to him. Other historians affirm that he came from -Palestina.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_423" id="footnote_423"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_423"><span class="muchsmaller">[423]</span></a> - Raí is the most northern town of the province Jebal, or Irak Ajem, -the country of the ancient Parthians.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_424" id="footnote_424"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_424"><span class="muchsmaller">[424]</span></a> - Anquetil says (<abbr title="Zend Avesta, Two Preface page 28"><cite>Zend-Av.</cite>, 2 P. p. xviii.</abbr>): -“The Bahman Yesht Pehlvi, -rather the epitome than the translation of the true Báhmán Zand, may -be called the Apocalypse of the Parsees. It presents, in the form of a -prophecy, an abridged history of the empire and of the religion of the -Persians, from Gushtasp to the end of the world.” That part of the -Dabistán which follows, said to be transcribed from the Zand Avesta by -a Mobed, may be presumed to be taken from the true Báhmán Yesht Zand; -still these prophecies are undoubtedly compositions of later times interpolated -in the original works.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_425" id="footnote_425"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_425"><span class="muchsmaller">[425]</span></a> - It is mentioned in the Situd gher (the 2nd Nosk of the Zend-Avesta) -that Zoroaster, having demanded immortality, Ormuzd showed him a tree -of four branches: the first of gold, this indicated the reign of Gushtasp; -the second of silver, that of Ardeshir Babegan; the third of brass, that of -Nushirvan, and the troubles excited by Mazdak; the fourth of iron mixed -with other metals, the destruction of the Persian empire. According to -the Báhmán Jesht Zand, Ormuzd refusing a second demand of immortality -made by Zoroaster, pours into his hands a few drops of water, after -the drinking of which he is during seven days and nights filled with -divine intelligence, and sees all that passes upon the seven <dfn>kechvars</dfn>, or -“districts of the earth.” He sees a second tree, having seven branches of -metal, which indicate seven epochas and the events belonging to them; -the first branch, which is of gold, designates the reign of Gushtasp. -Zoroaster then no more desires immortality. Ormuzd announces to him, -moreover, the war which Arjasp will make upon Gushtasp.—(<abbr title="Zend-Avesta, tome One, 2 Preface"><cite>Zend-Av.</cite>, -t. I. 2. P.</abbr> note, <abbr title="pages 28 29">pp. xviii. xix</abbr>)—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_426" id="footnote_426"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_426"><span class="muchsmaller">[426]</span></a> - The author of the Báhmán Yasht (<cite>ibid.</cite>, Notices, <abbr title="page 29">p. xix</abbr>) describes in -copious details the woes which are to afflict the world, during the -influence of the iron branch:, he speaks of the march of armies, of physical -convulsions, of the diminished productions of nature, of the conquests -made by Arabs, Greeks, Turks, Chinese, and Christians. All this -misery is to end on the arrival of king Báhrám Varjavand, who is to -re-establish the ancient Persian empire: by the successive mission of the -three sons of Zoroaster, who are to convert the world and confirm their -divine mission by working miracles. Sosiosh is to restore purity to the -world: during this prophet’s millennium the resurrection is to take -place.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_427" id="footnote_427"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_427"><span class="muchsmaller">[427]</span></a> - The <span class="time">Náúroz</span>, is the first day of the year, a great festival, the institution -of which is ascribed to the earliest times. It lasts six days, -beginning on the day of Ormuzd of the month Farvardin (March); this -is <span class="time">the little Náúroz</span>, and it ends on the day of <span class="time">Khordad</span> (an Amshasfand -who presides over the sixth day of the month), called <span class="time">the -great Náúroz</span>. It was on this day, they relate, that Ormuzd created -the world and what it contains; that Káiomers triumphed over Eshem, -the demon of envy, wrath, and violence, the enemy of Serósh, and the -most powerful of the Dívs; that Mashia and Mashiáná, the first man and -woman, came forth from the earth, and that several great events of the -ancient history of the Persians took place, such as Gushtasp’s embracing -Zoroaster’s faith: it is finally on that day that the general resurrection -is to follow (<abbr title="Zend-Avesta, tome Two, page"><cite>Zend-Av.</cite>, t. II. p.</abbr> 574.)—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_428" id="footnote_428"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_428"><span class="muchsmaller">[428]</span></a> - The month of <span class="time">Aban</span> is the month of October, and the angel of that -name, who is the Ized of the water, presides over the tenth day of the -month.</p> - -<p class="footnote"><span class="time">Baud</span> is the twenty-second day of the month.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_429" id="footnote_429"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_429"><span class="muchsmaller">[429]</span></a> - This list is incorrect; it should begin by stating that the Nosks are -twenty-one in number, according to the number of words in the <cite>Yatha -ahu virio</cite>—but the ignorance of the transcriber has converted the three -first words of a short prayer into the three first Nosks of the <cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote">According to several Parsee doctors, seven of these Nosks, or rather -<dfn>náskas</dfn>, treated of the first principle, of the origin of beings, of the -history of the human race, etc.; seven treated of morals and of civil -and religious duties; and seven of medicine and astronomy. The Pehlvi -books and some Persian works mention three other Nosks, which are to -complete the <cite>Avesta</cite> at the end of this world (<abbr title="Zend Avesta, tome One, One Preface, page"><cite>Zand-Av.</cite>, t. I. 1. P. -p.</abbr> 479).</p> - -<p class="footnote">Here follows a list of the Nosks according to a translation made by -Anquetil from the Persian Ravaet of Kamah Berch (see <cite>Mémoires de -l’Acad. des Inscript. et des B.-L.</cite>, <abbr title="tome 38 page">t. xxxviii. p.</abbr> 239-254.) I have abridged -the explanation of each Nosk; the contents of several of them are much -alike, and the miscellaneous matters in them all confusedly stated.</p> - -<p class="fnhanging unindent"><abbr title="One">I.</abbr>—The first Nosk, -called <span class="title">Setud-yesht</span>, “Nosk of prayer or praise,” has -33 chapters.</p> - -<p class="fnhanging unindent"><abbr title="Two">II.</abbr>—The second, -named <span class="title">Setud-gher</span>, “Nosk of prayer and praise,” has -22 chapters, and treats of the purity of actions, of collections for -the poor, of the concord which is to subsist between relations.</p> - -<p class="fnhanging unindent"><abbr title="Three">III.</abbr>—<span class="title">Vehest -Mantsre</span>, “heavenly word,” has 22 chapters. It discourses -on faith, on the strict observation of the law, and on the propensities -of the heart. Mention is made of the qualities of Zardusht, and -of the pure people and pure actions which have existed before him.</p> - -<p class="fnhanging unindent"><abbr title="Four">IV.</abbr>—<span class="title">Bagh</span>, -“happiness, light, or garden,” in 21 chapters, states the -substance and the true meaning of the law, God’s commands with -respect to obedience, fidelity, justice, purity of actions, the means -of guarding against Satan, and of going into the other world.</p> - -<p class="fnhanging unindent"><abbr title="Five">V.</abbr>—<span class="title">Dóazdah -Hamast</span>, the twelve Hamasts, that is, “means or things -produced at the same time.” This book, in 32 chapters, speaks -of the bad people of the upper and nether world, of the nature of all -beings, of the whole creation of God, of the resurrection, of the -bridge Chinavad, and of the fate after death.</p> - -<p class="fnhanging unindent"><abbr title="Six">VI.</abbr>—<span class="title">Nader</span>, -“the excellent, the rare.” This book of 35 chapters is -assigned to astronomy, to the influences of the stars upon the actions -of men; it corresponds with the Arabic work <span class="title">Buftal</span> (<span class="title">Bufastál</span>); its -Persian name is <span class="title">Favameshian</span> (<span class="title">Favaímasíhan</span>); that is, by means -of this science future events are known.</p> - -<p class="fnhanging unindent"><abbr title="Seven">VII.</abbr>—<span class="title">Pajem</span> -means perhaps “small animal, or retribution.” This book, -in 22 chapters, gives an account of quadrupeds; of actions permitted -or not; what animals may be killed or eat, what not; what may -be killed for the use of the <dfn>Gahanbars</dfn>, that is, the six festivals in -the year instituted in commemoration of the first creation of the -world in 365 days; and about regulations relative to these festivals, -to meritorious acts and gifts.</p> - -<p class="fnhanging unindent"><abbr title="Eight">VIII.</abbr>—<span class="title">Reteshtai</span>, -“the Nosk of warriors or of chiefs.” The subjects of -this book form 50 chapters, 13 of which only have survived the -time of Alexander; they are: the orders of the king, the obedience -of the subjects, the conduct of the judges, the foundation of towns, -and the various things and animals created by God.</p> - -<p class="fnhanging unindent"><abbr title="Nine">IX.</abbr>—<span class="title">Beresht</span>, -“execution of orders, or supremacy.” This book, of 60 -chapters, 12 of which only remain after Alexander, treats of kings -and judges; of the reciprocal relations of the governors and the -governed; of the occupations prescribed to the different classes and -professions of men; of useful knowledge; of the vices of men; and -such like things.</p> - -<p class="fnhanging unindent"><abbr title="Ten">X.</abbr>—<span class="title">Kesesrob</span>, -perhaps “agreeable word.” This book, at first of 60 chapters, -of 15 only after Alexander’s conquest, discourses upon the soul, -science, intellect, natural and acquired; upon morality, and the -consequences of its being observed or violated.</p> - -<p class="fnhanging unindent"><abbr title="Eleven">XI.</abbr>—<span class="title">Veshtasp</span>, -<span class="title">Veshap</span>, once of 60, but after Alexander of 10 chapters -only, contains an eulogy upon the government of Veshtasp (Gushtasp), -upon his having adopted, observed, and propagated Zardusht’s -laws.</p> - -<p class="fnhanging unindent"><abbr title="Twelve">XII.</abbr>—<span class="title">Khesht</span>, -“brick, or little lance, or agriculture.” This book, in -22 chapters, discusses six subjects relative to religion, policy, morals, -cultivation, political economy, and administration of justice. In -the fifth part are stated the four venerable classes of men, which -are the kings and chiefs, the warriors, the cultivators, and the -tradesmen.</p> - -<p class="fnhanging unindent"><abbr title="Thirteen">XIII.</abbr>—<span class="title">Sefand</span>, -“excellent,” inculcates in 60 chapters the observation of -moral and religious duties, and the faith in the miracles of Zardusht.</p> - -<p class="fnhanging unindent"><abbr title="Fourteen">XIV.</abbr>—<span class="title">Jeresht</span>, -“he does;” this book, of 22 chapters, treats of the birth -and the destination of man.</p> - -<p class="fnhanging unindent"><abbr title="Fifteen">XV.</abbr>—<span class="title">Baghantast</span>, -“the Yesht of the fortunate,” contains in 17 chapters -the praise of God, of the angels, and of the man who approaches -God and is thankful for the benefits which he receives from above.</p> - -<p class="fnhanging unindent"><abbr title="Sixteen">XVI.</abbr>—<span class="title">Niaram</span> -means, perhaps, “I do not seek my advantage.” This -book, of 54 chapters, teaches the good employ of one’s fortune, and -the advantages of a good behaviour towards God and men.</p> - -<p class="fnhanging unindent"><abbr title="Seventeen">XVII.</abbr>—<span class="title">Asparam</span>, -may signify “the ties, the book by excellence, the -dawn, the heaven, perfect, plant, leaf.” It treats in 64 chapters -of the <span class="title">Nerengs</span>, that is of the powers, faculties in different acceptations; -here of the powers of good actions, and of liturgical ceremonies.</p> - -<p class="fnhanging unindent"><abbr title="Eighteen">XVIII.</abbr>—<span class="title">Davaserujed</span>, -“he who offers the extreme expedient, or who -speaks of it,” of 65 chapters, shows the knowledge of men and -animals; how the latter are to be taken care of; how travellers and -captives are to be treated.</p> - -<p class="fnhanging unindent"><abbr title="Nineteen">XIX.</abbr>—<span class="title">Askaram</span>, -“I discover, explain, make known, teach publicly,” in -53 chapters, explains the obligation, the best establishment and -limitation of laws and regulations.</p> - -<p class="fnhanging unindent"><abbr title="Twenty">XX.</abbr>—<span class="title">Vendidad</span>, -“given for the repulsion of the Dîvs,” of 22 chapters, -forbids all sorts of bad, impure, and violent actions.</p> - -<p class="fnhanging unindent"><abbr title="Twenty-one">XXI.</abbr>—<span class="title">Hadokht</span>, -“the powerful <span class="title">Has</span>,” that is, “words of phrases of the -<span class="title">Avesta</span>,” in 30 chapters, exhibits the manner of always performing -many miracles, pure works, and admirable things.</p> - -<p class="footnote">Of all these Nosks, not one, except the <span class="title">Vendidad</span>, -has been preserved -complete, and the names of three only, namely, the <span class="title">Setud-yesht</span>, -the <span class="title">Vendidad</span>, -and the <span class="title">Hadokht</span>, are mentioned in the different Zand-books still -extant. This shows that, at different times, changes in the forms of the -written liturgy have taken place, and that the names, superscriptions, -and divisions of the writings have been arbitrarily treated by different -Dostúrs, without any change in the contents.</p> - -<p class="footnote">The names of the Nosks given by Hyde (343, 345), partly from the dictionary -<span class="title">Farhang Ichangiri</span>, partly from other sources not mentioned, are -not correct nor rightly explained.</p> - -<p class="footnote">Three additional Nosks are to be brought into the world by three posthumous -sons of Zoroaster. See in a subsequent note their miraculous -origin and actions.</p> - -<p class="footnote">The Persian text of another Notice upon the Nosks, somewhat more -complete than that published by Anquetil in Roman letters, has been -edited by Messrs. Julius Mohl and Olshausen, of Kiel (see <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Fragmens relatifs -à la Religion de Zoroastre, extraits des manuscrits persans de la -Bibliothèque du Roi</cite>, 1829).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_430" id="footnote_430"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_430"><span class="muchsmaller">[430]</span></a> - शङ्कराचर्य “<span class="trans">Sankara acharya</span>,” upon whose age different opinions -are entertained.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_431" id="footnote_431"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_431"><span class="muchsmaller">[431]</span></a> - According to another tradition Gushtasp himself had travelled in -India, and had been instructed by the Brahmans. In the Desátir (English -transl., Comment, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 185, 186), we read that, when Sekander conquered -Iran, Sásán, the son of Darab, went to India, where he practised the -worship of Yezdan in a cavern, and where he died. He left a son named -Jivánasp, who is known as the second Sásán, equal to his father, and who -took his abode in Kabulistan. Ardeshir (the son of another Sásán, of the -Kayanián race, a relative of the Saint), admonished by a dream, went to -Kabulistan, and by his entreaties prevailed upon the second Sásán to follow -him to Istakhar, where Ardeshir erected, for the habitation of the -saint, an immense monastery adorned with figures of the stars, and having -fire-temples on its different sides. These and other traditions afford the -inference that, in early times, a religious intercourse had taken place -between India and Persia.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_432" id="footnote_432"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_432"><span class="muchsmaller">[432]</span></a> - In the Desátir (English <abbr title="translation, page">translat., p.</abbr> 120) the Greek philosopher is -called <span class="title">Tútíanush</span>. We are at a loss even to guess at the Greek to -whom these names may be applied. We may however remember that -St. Clement of Alexandria places Pythagoras about the 62nd Olympiad, -or about 528 years B. C., and says that he was a zealous follower of Zoroaster, -and had consulted the Magi. Jamblicus, in his life of Pythagoras -(cap. 4) states, that this philosopher was taken prisoner by Cambyses and -carried to Babylon, where, in his intercourse with the Magi, he was -instructed in their modes of worship, perhaps by Zoroaster himself, if -<span class="person">Zabratus</span> and <span class="person">Nazaratus</span>, -mentioned as his instructors by Diogenes and -Alexander, can be identified with the Persian prophet. Now, the long -reign of Lohrasp (of 120 years) is supposed by some chronologers to comprehend -the reigns of Cambyses and of Smerdis. Upon this uncertain -chronological ground, Pythagoras may be placed in the times of Gushtasp, -to whom, as was before said, Foucher with others assigns an epocha -more remote than that of Darius Hystaspes of the Greeks. It is known -that Alexander, by the conquest of Persia, accomplished, to a certain -degree and for a certain time, his glorious project to connect the East -with the West; an open intercourse took place between the Asiatics and -the Greeks, whose language was widely spread in Asia. The Macedonian -conqueror is there generally believed to have been the son of Darab -(Darius), and the brother of Báhmán Isfendiar. He received, says the -Desátir (<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 123), from the hands of his Persian -spouse Pari-dokht Roshenak -(Parysatis Roxana), “the bright daughter of the fairy,” a book -of Zardusht addressed to him, and forming a part of the Desátir. Alexander -ordered the Persian books to be translated into Greek, called -the <span class="title">Nurakhi</span> language, in the Desatir, in which is also said -(<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 124): -“Hence the sect of Internal Illumination will arise among the <span class="title">Nurakhis</span>, -as well as that of Reason.” To this passage the Commentary -subjoins: “The sect of Gúshtaspians of Iran and Yunán is -a medium between the Illuminated and the Rationalist. When -Sekander came to Iran, he found that the Gúshtaspians of Iran -were the better and wiser; and he found that they had such power -that, when they pleased, they left the body, which they treated as -a garment. And besides them he saw another class of men in Irán, -who, by means of reason and meditation (<dfn>nurnu´d</dfn>) discovered the -real nature of things as they actually exist; and there was no such -class of men in Yunán. Having collected all their books, he translated -them into the Yunáni and Rúmi tongues. He then gave his prime -minister (Dostur) and teacher the title of the chief Mobéd and Sage, -and made him the head of the Nirnúdis. From this time forward the -sect of Rationalists prevailed among the Yunanis and Rúmis.” Alexander’s -prime minister is supposed by the Asiatics to have been Aristotle; -we know that this philosopher had an accurate knowledge of Zoroaster’s -doctrine. Although the history, religion, and science of the Asiatics have -certainly not been neglected by the inquisitive Greeks, Alexander’s companions, -among whom was Callisthenes, a relation of Aristotle, yet we -find in the western histories no particular notice corroborating the -account just quoted of the Desátir. Unfortunately we may be more -positive about the destruction of ancient monumental works in Persia by -the son of Philip; it is for having burnt the Nosks that he is said by -the Persians to be burning in hell (see Anquetil, -<abbr title="volume two page">vol. II. p.</abbr> 338).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_433" id="footnote_433"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_433"><span class="muchsmaller">[433]</span></a> - <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">व्यास</span>, “<span class="trans">Vyasa</span>,” -a sage of that name occurs in the chapter upon the -Hindus and elsewhere.</p> - -<p class="footnote">In the Desátir, published at Bombay, there is “the book of Shet the -prophet <span class="person">Zirtu´sht</span>” (<abbr title="English translation">Engl. -transl.</abbr>, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 116-145), in which the interview -between <span class="person">Hertushád</span>, son of <span class="person">Hereofetmad</span> -(<span class="person">Zortu´sht</span>), the Yúnan philosopher -and the Indian sages is related.</p> - -<p class="footnote">Here ends the principal part of the historical account which the Dabistán -gives of Zoroaster’s life. I shall add, according to Anquetil (<cite><abbr title="Zend-Avesta">Zend-Av.</abbr></cite>, -<abbr title="tome One, Second Part, pages">t. I. 2. P. pp.</abbr> 60-62), -a summary account of its principal events in chronological -order.</p> - -<p class="footnote">Anquetil supposes Zoroaster born 589 years B. C. At the age of 30 -years he goes to Irán, through which country he only passes. He disappears -then to the eyes of the Persians during ten years. His followers -say that he was transported before the throne of God. It was in this -interval of time that he terminated several works which he had perhaps -already begun upon mount Alborz, or in Chaldæa. The mountains afforded -him retirement. The twenty years which he is said to have passed -in the deserts were, probably, from his twentieth to his fortieth year.</p> - -<p class="footnote"><a name="cypress" id="cypress"></a>At this age he appeared -before Gushtasp, in Balkh, and at this very -time Hystaspes, father of Darius, may have reigned in Bactria. Zoroaster -performed miracles during ten years: this is the period of his mission. -After his first miracles, his reputation having spread afar, Changragháchah -came to meet him. This Brahman treats him in his letter to Gushtasp as -a young man, and well might an old man, such as Changragháchah was, -have so called a man of forty years. It is also to this time that Anquetil -refers what is said about the cypress-tree which Zoroaster planted before -the <span class="title">Atesh-gadah</span>, or the fire-temple, of Kichmar in Khorassan. Isfendiár -was then very young, because about twenty-eight years later his elder -son was not yet married; and Darius, 540 years B. C., might have been -ten years old.</p> - -<p class="footnote">At the age of sixty-five years, Zoroaster delivered in Babylon lessons of -philosophy, and counted Pythagoras among his disciples; Cambyses, -according to the Greeks, filled then the throne of Persia. Three years -afterwards, the legislator returned from Chaldæa for establishing the -worship of the cypress, which lasted eight years. Persia had then acknowledged -Darius, the son of Hystaspes, as king.</p> - -<p class="footnote">After these eight years, Zoroaster advised the war against Turan. He -was very old. The Shahnamah calls him <dfn>pír</dfn>, “old.” Gushtasp, victorious -over the Turaniáns, heaps every honor upon him, and he dies, some -time after, at the age of seventy-seven years, in the interval of time -which elapsed between the expedition of Gushtasp and the invasion of -the Turaniáns. Báhmán, the eldest son of Isfendiar, was able to carry -arms, and Darius, 512 B. C., might have been thirty-eight years old.</p> - -<p class="footnote">As to the posterity of Zoroaster—he had been successively married to -three wives. With the first he had one son and three daughters; with the -second two sons; it is not certain whether he had any offspring with his -third wife, called Húó, the niece of Jamasp—the Zand-books however -say, that she brought him three sons, who are to appear about the end of -the world.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote">According to Zand and Parsee writings, the birth and actions of these -sons will be equally miraculous. Zoroaster, having visited Húó three -times on her going to bathe, the germs remained in the water. The Izeds -(or genii) Nerioseng and Anahid were charged with their custody, until -the period when three virgins bathing in the same water, should receive -these germs in succession, and bring into the world the three sons -of Zoroaster.</p> - -<p class="footnote">The first is named <span class="person">Oshederbámi</span>. He is to appear at the commencement -of the last millennium of the world, and to arrest the sun’s course during -ten days and nights; and as Zoroaster converted one of the four portions -of the human race, he is to convert the second to the law, and give them -the 22nd Nosk.</p> - -<p class="footnote">The second posthumous son is <span class="person">Oshedermáh</span>. He is to appear four -hundred years after Oshederbámi, and to arrest the sun’s course during -ten days and nights; he is also to bring the 23rd Nosk of the law, and to -convert the third portion of the human race.</p> - -<p class="footnote">The third is named <span class="person">Sosiosh</span>. He shall appear at the end of ages, -arrest the sun’s course during thirty days and nights, bring the 24th -Nosk of the law, and the whole world is to embrace the faith of Zoroaster: -after this comes on the resurrection.—(<abbr title="Zend-Avesta, tome One, -Second Part, pages"><cite>Zend.-Av.</cite>, t. I. 2. P. pp.</abbr> 45, 46).—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_434" id="footnote_434"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_434"><span class="muchsmaller">[434]</span></a> - In the Desátir (English <abbr title="translation">transl.</abbr> <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 126) -he is called <span class="title">Biras</span>.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_435" id="footnote_435"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_435"><span class="muchsmaller">[435]</span></a> - Ardai Viráf or Arda Viráf or Virasp, also simply called Viraf or -Virasp, was, about the year 200 of our era, one of the most zealous followers -and defenders of Zoroaster’s religion, which, under Alexander the -Great and the other kings of Persia, had lost its first authority (see Hyde, -<abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 278, 279). Arda Viraf is mentioned in one of the -<span class="title">Yeshts Sades</span>, or -prayers called <span class="title">Dup Néreng</span>, which are recited when perfumes are thrown -into the fire (<abbr title="Zend-Avesta, tome Two, page"><cite>Zend-Av.</cite>, -t. II, p.</abbr> 53).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_436" id="footnote_436"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_436"><span class="muchsmaller">[436]</span></a> - In the <cite>Shah nameh Naser</cite> it is stated, in the life of Ardashir Babegan -(see Hyde, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 280) that this king, abolishing several regulations of Alexander -the Great, granted toleration to followers of the faith professed by Gushtasp, -and wishing to re-establish Zoroaster’s religion, demanded from its -Mobeds miracles, which they performed. The king, satisfied by these -proofs, not only adopted their tenets himself, but obliged all others to -do the same. In the life of Shapur it is said, in the book quoted, that, -when Ardashir was inaugurated in the government, he demanded from -the chiefs of the Magi miracles, after the performance of which Ardai -Viráf, during a whole week, supporting by arguments the truth of his -religion, brought also forward all that relates to hell and heaven. Some -believed; others doubted or denied: the number of the last was 80,000.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_437" id="footnote_437"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_437"><span class="muchsmaller">[437]</span></a> - The Revelations of Ardái Viraf are said to have been originally written -in Zand. There exists a Viraf nameh in Pehlvi, probably of the fourth -century of our era; works of this name are found in modern Persian in -prose and in verse. Anquetil mentions a Viraf nameh in verse, composed -A. D. 1532, by Káús, Herbed of Náusari, and another by Zardusht, son -of Báhrám (<abbr title="Zend-Avesta, tome One, Second Part, note pages -9, 10, 30, 32"><cite>Zend-Av.</cite>, t. I. 2. P. not. pp. ix. x. xxx. xxxii</abbr>). Translations -of this work have also been made into Sanskrit and the Hindu language -of Guzerat. An English translation of the Ardai-Viraf Nameh, by T. A. -Pope, appeared in 1816. The translator says in his preface (p. xiii): -that the Revelations of Ardai Viraf appear to be the same work that is -mentioned by Richardson as the work of Ardeshir Babegan, which having -been improved by Nushirvan the Just, in the sixth century, was sent by -him to all the governors of provinces, as the invariable rule of their -conduct. Pope examined for his work three versions in the modern Persian: -the first in prose, by Nushirvan Kermani; the second in verse, by -Zardusht Biram (Báhrám); the third in prose, by the same (<cite>ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="page 14">p. xiv</abbr>).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_438" id="footnote_438"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_438"><span class="muchsmaller">[438]</span></a> - <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">رسن</span>, <dfn>rasan</dfn> is a linear -measure, the exact value of which could -not be ascertained. According to common belief of the Muhammedans, -this bridge appears of different shapes; to the good, a straight and pleasant -road of thirty-seven fathoms in breadth; but to the wicked it is -like the edge of a sword, on which they totter and fall into the abyss -below. According to the translation of Pope (<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 11), when Ardai Viráf -found himself close to the bridge, it appeared to him to be a broad and -good road.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_439" id="footnote_439"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_439"><span class="muchsmaller">[439]</span></a> - Mihr Ized is the same as Mithra. He is the most active champion -against Ahriman and the host of evil genii; he has one thousand ears -and ten thousand eyes; a club, a bow, arrows, and a golden poniard in -his hand; he traverses the space between heaven and earth; he gives -light, that is the sun, to the earth; he directs the course of water, and -blesses mankind with progeny and the fruits of the field: the earth -receives from him its warriors and virtuous kings; he watches over the -law, and maintains the harmony of the world. After death, he not only -grants protection against the attacks of the impure spirits, but assigns -heaven to the souls of the just. It is there that he appears in the celestial -assembly of holy Fervers surrounding the throne of Ormuzd -(see <abbr title="Zend-Avesta, tome Two, pages"><cite>Zend-Av.</cite>, -t. II. pp.</abbr> 204. 205. 222. 223. 256. and in other places).</p> - -<p class="footnote">Mithra is by some authors identified with Ormuzd himself, and with -the sun; but it results from Anquetil’s investigations that, in the religion -of the Persians, he is distinct from both and subordinate to Ormuzd.</p> - -<p class="footnote">He occupies a much higher rank in the religious system of the Chaldæans -and the Arabs, who first venerated Mithra. It is now established -beyond any doubt, by a good number of authentic monuments, that in -later times the religion and worship of Mithra has been greatly developed -in dogmas, symbols, and a system of mysteries relating to cosmology, -astronomy, and physiology: in the first centuries of the Christian era, -this religion appears to have been spread, not only over Asia, but also -over a great part of Europe. This subject has been very learnedly treated -at great length in modern works of too great celebrity to require mentioning -here.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_440" id="footnote_440"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_440"><span class="muchsmaller">[440]</span></a> - Rashné-rast, an Ized, who presides over the 18th day of the month; -he is the Ized of righteousness, which he bestows; he sees every thing -from afar, destroys the thief and the violent, and takes care of the earth; -it is he to whom Ormuzd has given a thousand forces and ten thousand -eyes, and who weighs the actions of men upon the bridge which separates -the earth from heaven.—(<abbr title="Zend-Avesta, tome One, Second Part, pages"><cite>Zend-Av.</cite>, -t. I. 2. P. pp.</abbr> 82. 131.; <abbr title="(tome) Two, pages">II. pp.</abbr> -218. 219. 223).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_441" id="footnote_441"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_441"><span class="muchsmaller">[441]</span></a> - In Pope’s translation of the Viráf-nameh we find (<abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 13-15) what -follows: “When Serósh Ized laid hold of my arm, we proceeded to the -top of the bridge, one side of which appeared in full splendor of light -and the other in total darkness, when I heard a strong and extraordinary -noise which, on looking forwards, I perceived to come from a -dog, that was chained with a collar and chain of gold, near the light -side of the bridge.—I asked the angels: ‘Why is the dog here?’—to -which Serósh Izad replied: ‘He makes this noise to frighten Ahriman, -and keeps watch here to prevent his approach; his name is <span class="person">Zering -Goash</span> (Cerberus?) and the devils shake at his voice; and any soul that -has, during its residence in the lower world, hurt or ill used or destroyed -any of these animals, is prevented by Zering Goash from proceeding -any further across the bridge; and, Ardai Viraf, when you -return again to the world, as one of the first duties, enjoin the taking -care of these animals.” According to the <cite>Vendidad Sadé</cite> -(<abbr title="Zend-Avesta, tome One, Second Part, page"><cite>Zend-Av.</cite>, t. -I. 2. P. p.</abbr> 418), the souls, strong and holy, who have done good works, shall, -at their passage over the bridge Chanivad, be protected by the dog of the -herds. On that account the Persian kings had (see <cite lang="la" xml:lang="la">Brissonii de Reg. -Pers. princip. libri tres</cite>, <abbr title="liber One page">l. I. p.</abbr> 157) -at their table a particular meal -prepared for the dog. The Parsees in our days have great regard for -dogs. Immense numbers of these animals are fed by those people, -though not admitted into their houses.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_442" id="footnote_442"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_442"><span class="muchsmaller">[442]</span></a> - Printed copy reads <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">تير پايه</span>, <span class="trans">tir páyah</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_443" id="footnote_443"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_443"><span class="muchsmaller">[443]</span></a> - The Gítí Kharíd is called the gift of two rupees, which a man is -obliged to give once in his life to a Mobed or a priest, in order that he -may perform, during five or eight days, a religious ceremony for the -sake of the donor, who is purified by it. This purification is substituted -for another more expensive rite, called the Náuzódí, which a Parsee is -bound to perform when fifteen years old, and which, on the part of the -Neophyte, requires a considerable knowledge of religious doctrine, prayers, -and ceremonies. He who during his life has not made Yesht, nor the -Gítí Kharíd, nor the present of a dress to the Pure, shall, after the resurrection, -appear naked (<abbr title="Zend-Avesta, tome Two, pages"><cite>Zend-Av.</cite>, t. II. pp.</abbr> -34. 553. 554).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_444" id="footnote_444"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_444"><span class="muchsmaller">[444]</span></a> - The Parsees mention in their books a very agreeable oil, called -<dfn>Mediozerem</dfn>, which is the beverage of the blessed in heaven, and it is, -they say, from the name of this oil that one of the six yearly festivals -sacred to the memory of the creation is called <dfn>Gáhamber Mediozerem</dfn> -(<abbr title="Zend-Avesta, tome Two, page"><cite>Zend-Av.</cite>, t. II. p.</abbr> 394. -note).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote">According to the Ardai Viraf Nameh, translated by Pope, <abbr title="London">Lond.</abbr>, 1816 -(<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 22) Ardai received a lozenge to eat, which buried in oblivion all that -had passed in the other world, and turned his thoughts to God alone.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_445" id="footnote_445"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_445"><span class="muchsmaller">[445]</span></a> - Ardibehest, see <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 241, <a href="#footnote_406">note</a>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_446" id="footnote_446"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_446"><span class="muchsmaller">[446]</span></a> - In the manuscript, Garjishman; in the Ardai Viráf Nameh, Geroosman.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_447" id="footnote_447"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_447"><span class="muchsmaller">[447]</span></a> - We might almost imagine this tenet as the origin of accounting the -Grecian Hercules a God, from this ancient testimony of veneration for the -destroyers of lions, hydras, etc.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_448" id="footnote_448"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_448"><span class="muchsmaller">[448]</span></a> - The Viraf-nameh, a sort of Persian “Divina Commedia,” contains, -in Pope’s translation, a description much more detailed than here, -and even prolix, of Viraf’s journey in the other world. We there read of -seven heavens, namely: the <span class="title">Hamestan</span>, the <span class="title">Sitar-payah</span>, -the <span class="title">Mah-payah</span>, -the <span class="title">Khordad-payah</span>, the <span class="title">Gerúshman</span>, the -<span class="title">Azar Róshní</span>, and the <span class="title">Ana -Gurra Roshní</span>. In the last (<abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 38-39), in the centre of a building, on -a throne was seated Zartusht, and by his side were standing his three -sons, named <span class="person">Assad Avaster</span>, <span class="person">Ozvar túr</span>, -and <span class="person">Khurshid chehár</span>; attending -on the prophet were Jemshid and other kings, among whom was -Gushtasp and some sages, not without Changragácha, the converted -Brahman. These seven heavens have been very ingeniously referred by -M. Felix Lajard (see <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Mémoire sur les deux bas-reliefs mithriaques qui -ont été découverts en Transylvanie</cite>, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 49 -<span class="decoration">et seq.</span>) to a passage which Origenes -has preserved to us, from a treatise of Celsus against the Christians. -This philosopher, speaking of certain mysteries among the Persians, mentions -seven doors, which are of lead, tin, brass, iron, mixed metal, silver, -and gold, corresponding in their order to the heavenly bodies, Saturn, -Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, the moon, and the sun; above the last is -an eighth door, most likely the heavenly Alborz, “the region of the primordial -light (see <a href="#footnote_400">note</a>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 232).” -We learn from the Boun-Dehesh, the -Zardúsht-nameh, and other works, that the ascension of the souls was -effected through the five planets which, in the mysterious ladder of -Celsus, are placed before the moon and the sun, who himself rests upon -mount Alborz. M. F. Lajard makes use with great sagacity of the passage -of Celsus, in support of his explanation of the mithriacal monuments -which are the subjects of his learned Memoir.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_449" id="footnote_449"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_449"><span class="muchsmaller">[449]</span></a> - In which food is given to the poor.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_450" id="footnote_450"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_450"><span class="muchsmaller">[450]</span></a> - Báj, or Váj, signifies in general religious silence, or an inarticulate -murmuring of prayers. This is practised before eating, and is to be -followed by an inviolable silence during the repast. See Hyde, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 352, -and Anquetil du Peron, <abbr title="Two, page">II. p.</abbr> 598.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_451" id="footnote_451"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_451"><span class="muchsmaller">[451]</span></a> - Aban is the Ized of water, and presides over the tenth day of the -month. <abbr title="Anquetil du Peron, One, Second Part, page">Anq. du Per., I. 2. P. p.</abbr> 132; -<abbr title="Two">II.</abbr> 318. 328.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_452" id="footnote_452"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_452"><span class="muchsmaller">[452]</span></a> - <dfn>Kashti</dfn> is a girdle commonly of wool or of camel’s hair, consisting of -seventy-two threads, to go at least twice round the body, say, about ten -feet in length. The breadth depends upon the thickness of the threads. -It is tied about the <dfn>saderé</dfn>, which is a sort of white shirt, worn immediately -upon the skin, with short sleeves, open above and commonly not -passing the hips. This girdle was worn by the Parsees from time immemorial. -They pretend that Jemshid, being instructed by Hom, the primitive -legislator, invented the Kashti. Before the time of Zoroaster, it was -worn indifferently as a scarf, or wrapped round the head. The monuments -of Persepolis exhibit persons wearing the Kashti. Not to wear it -in the fifteenth year is a great sin; the day on which it is taken for the -first time is a festival, and daily prayers are prescribed before putting it -on, and frequent ceremonies are connected with it (<abbr title="Zend-Avesta, tome Two, pages"><cite>Zend-Av.</cite>, t. II. pp.</abbr> -529). Nothing can be right or good that is done without the Kashti: -“ungirt, unblessed” (Hyde, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 376). We have here a striking example -how a custom originally suggested by simple convenience, to be girt, or -to be ready, <dfn lang="la" xml:lang="la">accingere se</dfn>, acquires by religious prescription an importance -far beyond its intended use and purpose.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_453" id="footnote_453"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_453"><span class="muchsmaller">[453]</span></a> - Darwands, the production of Ahriman: this word means: 1. the -<span class="trans">Darong</span>, or “evil spirits, who appear under the human form;” 2. the -worshippers of Ahriman; 3. the spirits of the damned. After the resurrection, -they shall be anew precipitated into hell, to be punished there -during three days and nights; after which the great and small mountains -of the earth shall be dissolved and flow over its surface in rivers of metal; -the Durwands will be forced to pass through this molten ocean, and being -thus purified from all sin become eternally blessed.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_454" id="footnote_454"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_454"><span class="muchsmaller">[454]</span></a> - In this sentence D. Shea found the manuscripts and the printed copy -to differ greatly, but the manuscript of Oude agrees with the latter, -which therefore the editor thinks himself justified in following, although -there must remain a doubt about the author’s meaning having been perfectly -expressed.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_455" id="footnote_455"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_455"><span class="muchsmaller">[455]</span></a> - The account of Ardai Viraf’s vision of the other world can but remind -us of what Plato relates (<abbr title="Res Publica, tome 10">Respubl., t. x</abbr>) of Hero, the son of Armenius, -a Pamphilian by origin: viz., when this man had been killed in -battle, and when, on the tenth day, the dead bodies were in a state of decomposition, -he alone was preserved and carried home to be buried, and -on the twelfth day, being placed upon the funeral pyre, he gave signs of -life, and, resuscitated, he related what he had seen in the other world. -Upon this we may reflect, that the name of <span class="title">Arda</span>, which occurs as a part of -many Persian names, may be referred to the Sanskrit <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">ऊर्ध</span> <dfn>ûrdha</dfn>, “elevated;” -Ardashir is perhaps <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">ऊर्ध शिरः</span> <dfn>úrdhaśiras</dfn>, “elevated head;” -<span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">ऊर्द्दर</span> <dfn>úrddara</dfn>, signifies “a hero, a champion; -from <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">ऊर्ज</span> <dfn>úrja</dfn>, to be -strong: which would give nearly the sense of Plato’s <span lang="el" xml:lang="el">αλκιμου του ανδρος</span>, -“of the strong man,” as he characterises Hero. This observation gains -perhaps some relief, by connecting it with a passage of St. Clement of -Alexandria (<abbr title="Stromata, One, Five Section 14">Strom. I. V. sect. xiv.</abbr>), in which he interprets by Zoroaster -the name of Hero, and quotes a passage from a work in which this supposed -Zoroaster relates of himself what Plato states of Hero. The work -mentioned by St. Clement, much known in the first centuries of our era, -might have been composed by a Neo-platonic who transposed the fable -from Hero to Zoroaster. Hero, certainly not Zoroaster, may with more -probability be assimilated to one of his zealous followers, Ardai Viraf, -who lived in the second century of our era.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_456" id="footnote_456"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_456"><span class="muchsmaller">[456]</span></a> - According to the concurrent testimony of Persian records, <span class="person">Azarbad</span>, -the son of <span class="person">Maresfand</span>, was the thirtieth descendant from Zoroaster. -Twenty-nine generations, at four to a century, make 725 years; to this -add forty for the probable age of Azarbad at the time of his assuming -the prophetic mission: if from the sum 765 we subtract 240, that is, the -epocha of king Shapúr, under whom Azarbad lived, there will remain -525, the time of Zoroaster before Christ. Four generations are here -assigned to a century, because, according to Zoroaster’s law, marriage -is an act of religion, and children are the steps or ladders for ascending -to heaven: the observance of this precept must have tended to -multiply the generations in the legislator’s family (Rauzet-us Safa, Shea’s -transl., <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 280).</p> - -<p class="footnote">The following quotation from the Shah-nameh naser (Hyde, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 280) -may here find place, in addition to my note, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 284: When king -Shapúr heard of the great uncertainty still prevailing among a considerable -number of men about the truth of Zoroaster’s religion, he demanded -a solution of the great question from the principal priests, among whom -Azarbad rose and offered to satisfy him: “I will,” said he, “further -develop Ardai Viraf’s account of hell and heaven, and sit naked -from head to foot, whilst eighteen pounds of melted brass are poured -upon my body; if the least particle of it be hurt, the prophet’s words -are false; they are true, if I receive not the least injury.” No harm -ensued to him from the trial made upon his person, and all believed.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_457" id="footnote_457"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_457"><span class="muchsmaller">[457]</span></a> - The reading of the manuscript and printed copy is exceedingly -defective in this passage: it has been restored according to historical -notices: Pope’s translation has (<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 99) “forty thousand souls have -seceded from our holy faith,” instead of “the forty thousand wise -men were again assembled.”—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_458" id="footnote_458"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_458"><span class="muchsmaller">[458]</span></a> - The Viraf nameh terminates by these words: “The Masdian religion -became more firmly established than ever, and continued in all its purity -until the Mahomedan conquest dispersed its votaries, and forced those -who persevered in it to abandon the tombs of their ancestors, and to -fly for refuge to distant countries. A small number fled to, and were -kindly received on, the shores of western India, and the present Parsees -of Bombay and Surat are their descendants.” That is to say, it was a -short time after Yezdejerd’s death that, persecuted by the Muhammedans, -a number of Persians, to preserve their ancient religion, fled to Kohistan, -from whence after a century they descended to Ormuz on the Persian gulf, -and after a stay there of fifteen years landed at Diu on the Indian coast. -Nineteen years later they established themselves in the Guzerat; thence, -after the lapse of three hundred years, they dispersed to the north and south -of Surat. They had been five centuries in India when they fought with -the Indians against the Muhammedans, and were again obliged to fly -before the enemies of their faith. They maintained themselves, however, -in different places of the province of Aurungabad. Having gradually -increased in numbers to about 150,000 families (in 1816), they live dispersed -in villages from Diu to Bombay, in which place about 24,000 of -them reside (<abbr title="Zend-Avesta, tome One, Part 1, Page 318"><cite>Zend -Av.</cite>, t. I. 1. P. p. cccxviii</abbr>; and Pope’s <abbr title="English translation">Engl. transl.</abbr> of -the Viraf-nameh, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 118).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_459" id="footnote_459"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_459"><span class="muchsmaller">[459]</span></a> - Káshmar, Kishmar is the name of a town in the country of Tirshez, -in Khorasan or in Bactria (Hyde, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 332).</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_460" id="footnote_460"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_460"><span class="muchsmaller">[460]</span></a> - Upon the cypress, see notes <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> <a href="#footnote_410">236</a>, -<a href="#cypress">280</a>. According to the Ferhang -Jehangiri and the Burhani Kati, Zardusht planted two cypress-trees; one -in the town just mentioned, and the other in the town of <span class="place">Farúmad</span>, or -<span class="place">Ferúyad</span>, or <span class="place">Ferdíd</span>, -which is in the country of <span class="place">Tus</span>. The Magi believe, -he planted these trees by means of two shoots brought by him from -paradise.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_461" id="footnote_461"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_461"><span class="muchsmaller">[461]</span></a> - He was the tenth Khalif of the Abbassides, and began to reign in the -year of the Hejira 232, A. D. 846.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_462" id="footnote_462"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_462"><span class="muchsmaller">[462]</span></a> - Samarah is a town in Chaldæa, from which the Samaritan Jews have -their name, and which was for some time the seat of the Muselman empire -(Herbelot).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_463" id="footnote_463"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_463"><span class="muchsmaller">[463]</span></a> - Jâafriyah is a town in the Arabian Irak, so called from its builder, -<span class="person">Jâfar</span>, the original name of the khalif who assumed the title of <span class="title">Matavakhel -al Allah</span>, “he who confides in God.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_464" id="footnote_464"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_464"><span class="muchsmaller">[464]</span></a> - He had then reigned fourteen years and two months. The Turks were -excited to murder him by his own son <span class="person">Montassar</span>, in the town of Makhuriah, -on the very spot where Khosru Parviz had been put to death by -his son Shiruyah (Siroes)—(Herbelot).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_465" id="footnote_465"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_465"><span class="muchsmaller">[465]</span></a> - According to the above statement, the tree would have been planted -604 years before our era, that is, about the time of Gushtasp, king of -Persia, if the years above stated be taken for solar years; but if for -lunar (that is for only 1408 solar) years, the epoch of the plantation of -the cypress would be 562 years B. C., and 548, if the computation be -referred to the end of Mutawakhal’s life.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_466" id="footnote_466"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_466"><span class="muchsmaller">[466]</span></a> - Hakim Mirtas, in the text, may be a proper name.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_467" id="footnote_467"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_467"><span class="muchsmaller">[467]</span></a> - The Sad-der naser (in prose) is an abridgment of practical and ceremonial -theology, called Sad-der, or “one hundred doors,” because the -hundred chapters of which it is composed are like so many doors leading -to heaven. Some Parsees think that the original was written in Pehlvi. -It is positively said in the beginning of this treatise that it has been drawn -from the law: which proves that it makes no part of the Zend-Avesta -(<abbr title="Zend-Avesta, tome One, Second part"><cite>Zend-Av.</cite>, t. I. 2. P.</abbr> Notices, -<abbr title="page 29 30">pp. xxix. xxx</abbr>).</p> - -<p class="footnote">The Sad-der nazem (in verse) was versified by a Persian called <span class="person">Shahmard</span>, -the son of <span class="person">Malek Shah</span>, and terminated in the month of Isfendermad -(February) of the year 864 from the installation of Yezdejerd, 1495 -A. D., and brought from Kirman to India by the Dustúr Pashutan Daji. -This work has been translated into Latin by the learned Hyde (<cite>ibid.</cite>, -<abbr title="page 34">p. xxxiv</abbr>). The Dabistan gives only a short abstract of it.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_468" id="footnote_468"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_468"><span class="muchsmaller">[468]</span></a> - See <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, where the same tale occurs.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_469" id="footnote_469"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_469"><span class="muchsmaller">[469]</span></a> - Yasht (see <a href="#footnote_417">note</a>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 258) -signifies with the Parsees in general prayers -accompanied by efficacious benedictions, but is here used to imply the -panegyrics of several celestial spirits, in which are enumerated their principal -attributes and their relation to Ormuzd and his productions, as -distributors of the blessings which this secondary principle spreads over -nature, and as declared enemies of Ahriman and his ministers. According -to the Parsees, each Amshasfand and Ized had a peculiar Yasht; but -of all these compositions there only remain in the Zand eighteen which -are authentic, and a small part of the Yasht of Bahman.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_470" id="footnote_470"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_470"><span class="muchsmaller">[470]</span></a> - Upon the Naú Roz, see <a href="#footnote_427">note</a>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 268.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_471" id="footnote_471"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_471"><span class="muchsmaller">[471]</span></a> - These are two short forms of prayer, like our collects, which are frequently -repeated in the Parsee litanies. The <dfn>Ita ahu virio</dfn>, as translated -by <abbr title="Anquetil">Anq.</abbr> du Peron, runs thus: “It is the desire of Ormuzd that the chief -of the law should perform pure and holy works: Bahman bestows abundance -on him who acts with holiness in this world. O, Ormuzd! thou -establishest as king whoever consoles and nourishes the poor.” The -<cite>Ashem Vuhu</cite> thus: “Abundance and paradise are reserved for him -who is just and pure: he is truly pure who is holy and performs holy -works.”—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_472" id="footnote_472"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_472"><span class="muchsmaller">[472]</span></a> - <dfn>Kirfah</dfn> means: 1. a good work; 2. a merit which absolves from sin. -The author of the Dabistán has so abridged this Der that it is deemed -proper to give it at length according to Hyde’s translation: “It is manifest, -from the principles of religion, that we must concede due authority -to the Dustúr and must not deviate from his commands, as he is -the ornament and splendor of the faith. Although thy good works -may be countless as the leaves of the trees, the grains of sand, the -drops of rain, or the stars in the heavens, thou canst gain nothing by -them, unless they be acceptable in the sight of the Dustúr: if he be -not content with thee, thou shalt have no praise in this world: therefore, -my son, thou shalt pay to the Dustúr who teaches thee the tithe -of all thou possessest (wealth and property of every kind, gold and -silver). Therefore thou, who desirest to enjoy paradise to all eternity, -pay tithes to the Dustúr; for if he be satisfied with thee, know that -paradise is thine; but if he be not content with thee, thou canst derive -no portion of benefit from thy good works; thy soul shalt not find its -way to paradise; thou shalt have no place along with angels; thy soul -can never be delivered from the fiends of hell, which is to be thy -eternal abode: but pay the tithes, and the Dustúrs will be pleased with -thee, and thy soul shall get to paradise without delay. Truly the Dustúrs -know the religion of all men, understand all things, and deliver -all (faithful) men.”—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_473" id="footnote_473"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_473"><span class="muchsmaller">[473]</span></a> - Hyde (<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 454) has “<span class="person">Malkus</span>, -whose enchantments brought on the -deluge.”</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_474" id="footnote_474"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_474"><span class="muchsmaller">[474]</span></a> - <span class="title">Sarúregh</span>, according to Hyde (<cite>ibid.</cite>), -“by whom (in the time of Sâm) -the world suffered oppression and injury.”</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_475" id="footnote_475"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_475"><span class="muchsmaller">[475]</span></a> - “<span class="person">Túr-Brátur</span> (otherwise <span class="person">Túri-Brátrush</span> -or <span class="person">tresh</span>), that villanous -and obscene man, who destroyed Zardusht in that religion which he -supported by his zeal.”—(Hyde, <cite>ibid.</cite>). This name is perhaps a variation -of <span class="title">Parántárush</span> (see <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> <a href="#Page_228">228</a>).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_476" id="footnote_476"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_476"><span class="muchsmaller">[476]</span></a> - See <a href="#footnote_452">note</a>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 297.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_477" id="footnote_477"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_477"><span class="muchsmaller">[477]</span></a> - The terms Miezd and Darun require some farther illustration: the -following is from the Zend-Avesta, <abbr title="volume two page">vol. II. p.</abbr> 534. The Miezd, that is, -meats previously blessed and then eaten, either during or after the service; -flowers, fruits, especially pomegranates and dates; rice, fragrant -seeds, and perfumes; milk; the small cakes called Darun; the branches -of the Hom and its juice, called Perahom; the roots of trees, particularly -the pomegranate tree. The roots are cut, the milk, and in general all these -offerings, are prepared with ceremonies described at great length in the -<cite>Ravaets</cite>, or “ritual treatises.” These offerings, and the sacred implements, -which are twenty-six in number, constitute the thirty-three objects -as specified by Zoroaster in the latter part of the first Ha of the Izechné, -<abbr title="volume one Part Two page">vol. I. P. II. p.</abbr> 87: -“I invoke and laud all the mighty, the pure Dustúrs -who have thirty-three objects around and near the Havan (the vase for -holding the Perahom): they are pure, according to the ordinance of -Zaradusht, who was instructed by the Supreme Lord himself.” The -Daruns are small cakes of unleavened bread, nearly the form and thickness -of a crown piece: there are two or four of these offered, according to -the nature of the service. The Darun on which they place a little dressed -meat is called <dfn>Darun Fusesté</dfn>, or “offered bread.”—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_478" id="footnote_478"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_478"><span class="muchsmaller">[478]</span></a> - The Afirgans, or Afernigáns, are the prayers and benedictions recited -during the Gahanbar or the last ten days of the year, and on the anniversary -of deceased parents or relations: but the service on the third -night after the decease is not to be neglected, as in that case the soul of -the deceased would remain without protection until the resurrection. -On the third night, at the Oshen Gah, or midnight, there are four services; -one for each of the angels, Rashin Rast, Ram Izad, and Surush, -the fourth in honor of the Ferouers of holy personages. In this last service -are recited nine Kardés, or portions of the <span class="title">Vispared</span>, and four dresses, -fruits, and cheese are laid by for the officiating priest, along with the -Darun.</p> - -<p class="footnote">The word <dfn>Vispered</dfn> admits of two meanings: 1. “the knowledge of -“every thing,” <dfn>Vispé Khirad</dfn>;” 2. “all the chiefs,” <dfn>Vispé Rad</dfn>. The -latter meaning seems more analogous to the Vispered, as it begins by -invoking the chiefs of all beings—such as the first of the heavens, the -first of the earth, the first of aquatic creatures, etc. Zoroaster is supposed -to have repeated to the Brahmin Chingégratch this Vispered, which -begins thus: “I invoke and laud the first of the heavens, the first of the -earth, the first of aquatic beings, the first of terrestrial beings, the first -of brilliant and intelligent beings, the holy, pure, and great Chingégrâtchás;” -and it ends with “I invoke and laud the bull exalted on -high, who makes the herbage to grow in abundance; this bull, the -pure gift, who has given (being) to the pure man.” The Vispered is -divided into twenty-seven <dfn>Kardés</dfn>, or “sections,” and probably formed -part of the Baghantást of the fifteenth Nosk of the Avesta. It is recited -by day, as well as the Izeshneh (Yazishnah), and with a Barsom, or “bundle, -of thirty-five branches of trees.</p> - -<p class="footnote">Izeshné (Yazishnah) means a prayer setting forth the greatness of the -personage thus addressed. It is composed of seventy-two Há, which the -Parsees divide into two parts: the first part contains twenty-seven Há, -addressed to Ormuzd and his creation; the second contains prayers addressed -to the Supreme Being; it speaks of man, of his wants, of the several -genii charged to protect him, etc. The word Há, which signifies a -portion of the Izeshné, is derived from the Zend Hâetîm, or Hâtarim, -portions. From Hâtaum is also formed “Had,” which signifies “measure, -limit.” The Izeshné probably formed part of the Setud-yesht, the -first Nosk of the Avesta, or of the Setud-gher, the second Nosk. The -Izeshné is performed at the <dfn>Gah Havan</dfn>, or “sunrise;” when, recited by -itself without other prayers, the Izeshnéh Sadah is read with the same -ceremonies as the Vendidad Sâdeh, excepting that the <dfn>Barsom</dfn>, or -“sacred bundle of twigs” [see hereafter, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> <a href="#Page_319">319</a>], -consists then of only -twenty-three branches. The Vendidad and Vispered cannot be recited -without the Izeshné, and the Barsom for these two offices consists of -thirty-five branches.</p> - -<p class="footnote">The term <dfn>Sâde</dfn> means “pure,” or the text without a translation.</p> - -<p class="footnote">The two works, the Izeshné and Vispered, joined to the Vendidad, the -twentieth Nosk of the Avesta, form the Vendidad Sadé, which the Mobeds -are obliged to recite every day, commencing at the <dfn>Gâh Oshen</dfn>, or “midnight,” -or before day-break, so that it may be finished before sunrise.</p> - -<p class="footnote">Purifications, ordinances, marriages, in short all the ceremonies of the -law, depend on the due celebration of this office.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_479" id="footnote_479"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_479"><span class="muchsmaller">[479]</span></a> - Lest demons or wizards should take them away and use them in -their enchantments.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_480" id="footnote_480"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_480"><span class="muchsmaller">[480]</span></a> - Upon Váj, see <a href="#footnote_450">note</a>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 296.</p> - -<p class="footnote">In this translation, the reading of the manuscript has been followed as -being the most simple: there seems however something omitted. Annexed -is the form of prayer recited in Váj, which means mental recitation: it is -taken from Anquetil du Perron:</p> - -<p class="footnote center">THE PRAYERS RECITED BY PARSEES BEFORE MEAT.</p> - -<p class="footnote"><span class="title">Etha aad avirmede.</span>—“Ormuzd -is king: now I make Izeshné to Ormuzd -the giver of pure flocks, the giver of pure waters, of pure trees, -the giver of light, of earth, and of every kind of good.” This is to be -recited once.</p> - -<p class="footnote"><span class="title">Eshem Trihu.</span>—“Abundance -and paradise are reserved for the just and -undefiled person; he who does heavenly and pure works.” To be -recited three times.</p> - -<p class="footnote center">PRAYERS AFTER MEAT.</p> - -<p class="footnote"><span class="title">Ethu ahu Virio.</span>—“It is -the desire of Ormuzd that the chief (of the -law) should perform pure and holy works. Bahman gives (abundance) -to him who acts with holiness in the world. O Ormuzd! thou establishest -as king whoever comforts and nourishes the poor.” To be -repeated twice.</p> - -<p class="footnote"><span class="title">Eshem vuhu.</span>—“Abundance -and paradise, etc.” To be repeated once.</p> - -<p class="footnote"><span class="title">Ehmarestchi.</span>—“Mayest -thou remain always effulgent with light! -may thy body be always in good condition! may thy body ever increase! -may thy body be ever victorious! may thy desires, when accomplished, -ever render thee happy! mayest thou always have distinguished -children! mayest thou live for ever! for length of time! for length of -years! and mayest thou be received for ever into the celestial abodes -of the holy, all radiant with light and happiness! enjoy a thousand -healths, ten thousand healths.”</p> - -<p class="footnote"><span class="title">Kereba mezada.</span>—This -form of prayer shall be quoted hereafter.</p> - -<p class="footnote"><span class="title">Eshem Vuhu.</span>—“Abundance -and paradise, etc.” To be repeated -once.</p> - -<p class="footnote">The commentator on this gate has evidently confounded Váj or Váz -with the Barsum; this mistake is not to be attributed to the author of -the Dabistán.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_481" id="footnote_481"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_481"><span class="muchsmaller">[481]</span></a> - Strabo, observes Anquetil (<cite>Zand-Avesta</cite>, -<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 532), alludes to the Barsom, -where he says of the Magi: <span lang="el" xml:lang="el">τὰς δὲ ἀπωδὰς ποιουνται πολὺν ῥαβδων -μυρικίνων λεπτων δέσμην κατέχοντες·</span> “They make their prayers a long time, -holding a bundle of slender twigs of tamarisk in their hands” (<abbr title="Geographica, liber 15, page"><cite>Geog.</cite>, -lib. XV. p.</abbr> 733).—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr>]</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_482" id="footnote_482"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_482"><span class="muchsmaller">[482]</span></a> See <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> <a href="#Page_292">292-3</a>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_483" id="footnote_483"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_483"><span class="muchsmaller">[483]</span></a> - Anquetil du Perron says (<cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, <abbr title="tome Two, page">t. II. p.</abbr> 601): -“Of all the -religions known, that of the Parsís is perhaps the only one in which -fasting be neither meritorious nor even permitted. The Parsí, on the -contrary, believes to honor Ormuzd by nourishing himself well: because -the body, fresh and vigorous, renders the soul stronger against -the bad genii; because the man, feeling less want, reads the word with -more attention, and feels more courage for performing good works; -consequently several celestial spirits are especially charged with watching -over the welfare of man: Rameshné, Kharom, Khordád, and Amerdád -give abundance and pleasures to him, and it is the last of the Izeds -mentioned who produces in the fruits the taste and flavor which lead -men to apply them to that use for which Ormuzd has created them.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_484" id="footnote_484"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_484"><span class="muchsmaller">[484]</span></a> - The cock is an animal held in great esteem by the Parsees, who are -enjoined to keep one in their houses; Bahrám (Mars) appears under this -form (<cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, <abbr title="tome Two, pages">t. II. pp.</abbr> 290. 602). -The cock is called a Persian bird, -and, according to Athenæus, cocks came first from Persia (see Hyde, -<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 412).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_485" id="footnote_485"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_485"><span class="muchsmaller">[485]</span></a> - In the fifth period of eighty days were created the 282 Sardah, or -genera of birds and animals, <abbr title="namely">viz.</abbr>: 110 of birds and 172 of animals (Hyde, -<abbr title="Religionis Veterum Persarum, page"><cite>Rel. Vet. Pers.</cite>, p.</abbr> 164).—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_486" id="footnote_486"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_486"><span class="muchsmaller">[486]</span></a> - According to Hyde’s translation of the <span class="title">Sad-der</span> (<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 471): -<dfn lang="la" xml:lang="la">caput ejus -expiare oportet</dfn>, “an expiation is to be performed over his head.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_487" id="footnote_487"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_487"><span class="muchsmaller">[487]</span></a> - <dfn>Mezda</dfn> or <dfn>Maz-dao</dfn>, in Zand, according to Rask, means “God;” Bohlen -and Mr. Bopp believe that this word is of the same family as the Sanskrit -<span class="trans">mahat</span>, “great;” M. Eugene Burnouf, in a learned discussion, justifies -the interpretation “<dfn>multiscius</dfn>” given of this word by Neriosengh -(see <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Commentaire sur le Yacna</cite>, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 70-77).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote">The form of prayer called <span class="title">Kimna va Mazda</span> -is probably the same as -the Kereba Mazda (<cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, <abbr title="tome Two page">t. II. p.</abbr> 6), -which is as follows: “Grant, -O Ormuzd, that my good works may efface my sins; grant joy and -content to my purified soul! give me a share in all the good works and -holy words of the seven regions of the earth! May the earth enlarge -itself! may the rivers extend their courses! may the sun ever rise on -high! may such be the portion of the pure in life, according to the -wishes which I make.”—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_488" id="footnote_488"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_488"><span class="muchsmaller">[488]</span></a> - For <dfn>yarshanom</dfn>, which is in the manuscripts and in the edition of Calcutta, -read <span class="title">Barashnom</span>. This is the name of one of the four sorts of purifications -prescribed to the Parsees; that called the <span class="title">Barashnom of nine -nights</span>, is believed the most efficacious. It is performed in a garden or -in a retired place, where a piece of ground 90 feet in length and 16 feet -in breadth is chosen for it, and, after having been cleaned and surrounded -by a narrow ditch and a hedge, covered with sand. Therein, after the -celebration of ceremonies during one or three days, a Mobed traces a -number of furrows or trenches, called <dfn>Keishs</dfn>, and forms several heaps of -stones according to prescribed rules; he prepares a beverage of ox’s urine -and water mixed with other sacred liquids: this the person to be purified -drinks in sacred vases, then enters into the <span class="place">Keishs</span>, accompanied by -Mobeds and a dog; there he strips, and receives on his body wine poured -over him, and washes himself with that given him by the Mobed. During -prayers recited by the purificator and himself, he passes over several heaps -of stones, his right hand on his head and his left upon the dog, and is -then rubbed with dust; in his progress over other heaps of stones, he -washes himself several times with water. This done, the purified person -goes out of the trenches, and performs other ablutions with water before -he dresses and puts on the <dfn>Koshti</dfn>, or “girdle.” The individual who -takes the <span class="title">Barashnom</span> remains separated from other men during nine -days, and at the end of the third, sixth, and ninth night, he washes himself -with a prescribed quantity of wine and water, and is subject to other -ceremonies. This is a very short abstract of the ceremonies practised in -our days; in the <cite>Vendidad Sadé</cite>, other very minute particulars and -prayers are given for the performance of purification, the usages of which -have in the course of time undergone some changes. See a completely -detailed account of these rites of purification in Anquetil’s elaborate -work, <cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, <abbr title="tome One, Secnd Part, pages">t. I. 2. P. pp.</abbr> -353-367, and <abbr title="tome Two, pages">t. II. pp.</abbr> 545-548, with a -plan of the place upon which the Barashnom is performed.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_489" id="footnote_489"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_489"><span class="muchsmaller">[489]</span></a> - According to Olugh Beigh (Hyde, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 190), the name of the five supplementary -days of the Persian year of 360 days are as follows: Ahnavád, -Ashnavád, Isfendamád or Máz, Vahshat or Vahást, and Hashúnesh or -Hashtuvish (see also <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 62. <a href="#footnote_296"><abbr title="note">n.</abbr></a>).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_490" id="footnote_490"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_490"><span class="muchsmaller">[490]</span></a> - According to Anquetil (<cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, <abbr title="Two, page">II. p.</abbr> 575) the name of the five -supplementary days is <span class="title">Farvardians</span>, that is, “the days of the Fervers of -the law:” on these days, as the Persians believe, the souls of the blessed -and those of the damned come to visit their relations, who receive them -with the greatest magnificence in their houses, purified and adorned for -the occasion.</p> - -<p class="footnote">In the composition of the name Farvardigán, appears to have entered -the word Gáhs, which denotes also the Epagomenes, and five female Izeds, -or angels, who have formed, and preserve, the bodies, and are occupied -in heaven to weave garments for the just (<cite>Zand-Avesta</cite>, <abbr title="One, Second Part, page">I. -2. P. p.</abbr> 221).—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_491" id="footnote_491"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_491"><span class="muchsmaller">[491]</span></a> - It may be recollected that, during the short period of the French -Republic, the year was of twelve months, each of thirty days, with the -addition of five supplementary days, called by some <span class="title">Sansculotides</span>; these -were festivals, consecrated, the 1st, to Virtue; the 2nd, to Genius; the -3rd, to Labour; the 4th, to Opinion; and the 5th, to Recompense; -every fourth or leap-year, there was a 6th day, devoted to the Revolution.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_492" id="footnote_492"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_492"><span class="muchsmaller">[492]</span></a> - The manuscript reads: “Let her eat bread at night, having wrapped -up the hand in her sleeve and over that a towel.”—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_493" id="footnote_493"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_493"><span class="muchsmaller">[493]</span></a> - <span class="title">Yasht</span> is not found among the names of the Nosks enumerated in the -<a href="#footnote_429">note</a>, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 272-275.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_494" id="footnote_494"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_494"><span class="muchsmaller">[494]</span></a> - Every city and village must have the tree called <span class="title">Aderán</span>, or <span class="title">Aderán -Sháh</span>, or “the chief of fires.” <dfn>Ader</dfn> is the Pá-zend of Ateré, which signifies -fire; which word, in Parsee writings, means the several fires which -showed themselves to mankind under different forms, and also their -presiding genii; whilst Atesh signifies the common fire. When a kitchen -fire has been used three times, the Parsees are bound to take it to the -Aderán: the other fires must be taken thither on the expiration of seven -days, on the day of Ader and those of his co-operating genii. The fire -Aderán itself is taken once every year, or at least every three years, to the -fire <span class="title">Behram</span>, which is the result of one thousand and one fires, taken from -fifteen different kinds of fire. In strictness there should be an Ader -Behrám in every province, and according to some Dustúrs, in every city. -On the expiration of a certain period, they take the ashes of the Behrám, -Aderán, and other fires into the fields, and strew them over the cultivated -grounds. It requires a ceremonial of thirty days to prepare the Behrám -fire (<cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, <abbr title="tome Two, page">t. II. p.</abbr> 531).—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_495" id="footnote_495"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_495"><span class="muchsmaller">[495]</span></a> - The Parsees use for their purifications seven things: plain water; -<span class="title">Padiav</span> water; water of power, or <dfn>ab-í-zúr</dfn> (according to Hyde, golden -water) <span class="title">Yeshtí</span> water; earth; <span class="title">Noreng gomez</span>, -or ox’s urine; and <span class="title">Noreng -gomez yeshtá</span>. They must take care to have the plain water and the -earth free from all kind of impurity.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_496" id="footnote_496"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_496"><span class="muchsmaller">[496]</span></a> - <dfn>Padiav</dfn> means “what renders or is rendered (pure) like water.” To -impart this quality to water, the officiating priest puts it in a large vase, -out of which he fills a smaller vessel; he afterwards pours out some of the -water three times from the smaller into the larger vessel, accompanying -each act with certain forms of prayer, on which the water becomes -Padiav.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_497" id="footnote_497"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_497"><span class="muchsmaller">[497]</span></a> - See <a href="#footnote_487">note</a>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 325.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_498" id="footnote_498"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_498"><span class="muchsmaller">[498]</span></a> - According to Anquetil Du Perron, <span class="title">Khushnuman</span> signifies one who is -pleased or favorable: this name is given to a short prayer, or collect, -which contains the principal attributes of the being to whom it is addressed: -there are two kinds of it, the greater and the less: in the -former, after every attribute they repeat: “I offer thee Izechné,” or -“I praise and magnify thee;” in the latter form this is only repeated -after the enumeration of all the attributes.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_499" id="footnote_499"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_499"><span class="muchsmaller">[499]</span></a> - See <a href="#footnote_477">note</a>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 315, -Hyde translates <span class="title">Darún yeshtén</span>, by “expiatory -banquet:” but according to Anquetil (<cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, <abbr title="tome One, Second Part, page">t. I. 2. P. p.</abbr> 237) -the Darún Yeshté is a Parsi office, which begins thus:</p> - -<p class="footnote">“With the Barsom raised over the Zúr, I address in prayer the great -Ormuzd, brilliant in light and glory; also the Amshaspands; and thee, -O Fire! son of Ormuzd!</p> - - <div class="fnpoem2"> - <div class="i0">I address in prayer the wood and the perfumes!</div> - <div class="i0"><span class="sv"> </span>.<span class="ss"> </span>.<span class="ss"> </span>.<span class="ss"> </span>.<span class="sv"> </span> -thee, O Fire, son of Ormuzd!</div> - <div class="i0"><span class="sv"> </span>.<span class="ss"> </span>.<span class="ss"> </span>.<span class="ss"> </span>.<span class="sv"> </span> -the pure, the chiefs who walk in dignity in this world!</div> - </div><!--end poem--> -<p class="footnote">I make Khushnuman; I address my prayer to Ormuzd, to the Amshaspands, -to the pure Surúsh, to the Fire of Ormuzd, the great, the -exalted, the holy!</p> - - <div class="fnpoem2"> - <div class="i0">I pray to the holy, pure, and great Vendidad given to Zoroaster!</div> - <div class="i0"><span class="sv"> </span>.<span class="ss"> </span>.<span class="ss"> - </span>.<span class="ss"> </span>.<span class="ss"> </span>.<span class="ss"> </span>.<span class="ss"> - </span>.<span class="ss"> </span>. Gahs.</div> - <div class="i0"><span class="sv"> </span>.<span class="ss"> </span>.<span class="ss"> - </span>.<span class="ss"> </span>.<span class="ss"> </span>.<span class="ss"> </span>.<span class="ss"> - </span>.<span class="ss"> </span>. Gahanbars, or the six periods of creation.—</div> - <div class="i0"><span class="sv"> </span>.<span class="ss"> </span>.<span class="ss"> - </span>.<span class="ss"> </span>.<span class="ss"> </span>.<span class="ss"> </span>.<span class="ss"> - </span>.<span class="ss"> </span>. Years and laud them.”</div> - </div> - -<p class="footnote"><span class="title">Darun yeshté</span> also signifies -“Festival Darúns,” or banquets preceded -by the recitation of the Izeshné, the Vendidad, and the Darun, for which -the officiating priest receives a new dress. This bears out Hyde’s translation.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. -S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_500" id="footnote_500"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_500"><span class="muchsmaller">[500]</span></a> - The forms Jethá ahú viríyo, Eshem Vehu, and Jetha âúd Jezmídé -have been given under <span class="sc">Gate 22</span>.—The Homoctenaum is a short prayer: -“To think with purity, to act with purity, to perform and execute it, -to teach others the same, such is my undertaking. I teach the same to -men: may it turn to my good!” The Hockhshéthrôtemâé: “The king -who is pure and elevated as I am, I will give him his desires; of him -I, Ormuzd the holy and heavenly, will take peculiar care.—” The -printed copy reads for Jétha âad Jezmédé, the words <span lang="fa" xml:lang="fa">اهم بريم يزمندی ايتا اهو</span>. -But as one manuscript reads Jétha âád Jezmédé, it has been -retained. The Hemoctaum and Hokhshéthrôtemâé are also conjectural, -as the two manuscripts and printed copy present different readings. In -the latter these are read Homesham and Hochastar.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_501" id="footnote_501"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_501"><span class="muchsmaller">[501]</span></a> - In the Vendidad Sadé (<cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, -<abbr title="tome One, Second Part, page">t. I. 2. P. p.</abbr> 386) we find: “The -world is engendered from water; and at present there are in the water -two primeval aquatic dogs and thousands of their females which produce -by copulation thousands of their species. To smite these aquatic dogs -causes all good things to be parched up; from that city or place shall -depart all that is sweet to the taste: wholesome viands, health, longevity, -abundance, rain, the source of good, the profusion of temporal -blessings; also whatever grows on the earth, such as grain and pasturage.”—<abbr title="David Shea">D. -S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_502" id="footnote_502"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_502"><span class="muchsmaller">[502]</span></a> - In page 564, <cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, <abbr title="tome Two">t. II.</abbr> we find: “The Parsees who are -desirous of leading happy lives, and of having children who do them -honor, must employ four priests to repeat the Izeshné during three -consecutive days and nights: this rite is called the <span class="title">Zindeh Ravan</span>, or -‘verifier of the soul (at the moment of death).’”</p> - -<p class="footnote">Surúsh, or Surúsh Ized, performs a most important part in Parsee -mythology (see <a href="#footnote_229">note</a>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 7).—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_503" id="footnote_503"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_503"><span class="muchsmaller">[503]</span></a> - According to Anquetil du Perron, the following are some of the ceremonies -practised on such occasions. On the approaching departure of -the soul from the body, they perform the <span class="title">Sag-díd</span> (the dog-saw) by presenting -a dog before the dying person, and that the animal may be -induced to look at him, they throw some bits of bread or meat near the -person. Without doubt Bardesanes, in <cite><abbr title="Eusebius Præparatio evangelica, liber">Euseb. -præp. Evan. lib.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 277, -alludes to this custom where he says: “All the Medes expose the dying, -whilst yet breathing, to dogs which have been carefully trained for that -purpose;” and in like manner (<abbr title="Eusebius Præparatio evangelica, liber One page"><cite>Euseb. -præp. Evang.</cite>, l. I. p.</abbr> 11-12), -where he says: “Among the Hyrcanians and Caspians, some exposed persons -whilst yet alive to birds of prey and dogs; others only the deceased: -but the Bactrians exposed old people whilst yet alive to dogs.” -(See hereafter the <a href="#footnote_506">note</a> to <span class="sc">Gate 77</span>.)</p> - -<p class="footnote">The Parsees believe that, immediately after death, the soul, like a feeble -new-born infant, flutters during the first day around the place where the -person died; on the second, around the Keshé, or place in the Dakhmé -where the body is deposited; and on the third around the Dakhmé or -Parsi burying-place; on the fourth, near the bridge of Chinavad, where he -is interrogated by Mithra and Rashné Rast, who also weigh his actions. -During the three first days, they celebrate the Surúsh Yasht, the Surúsh -Darún, the Patet Mokhtat (of souls), and the Surúsh Afergan. Patet signifies -a general confession of all sins a person may have committed. -Afergáns and Afrins are prayers in the form of thanksgivings accompanied -with supplications and benedictions. On the third night, at the -Gah Oshen, they celebrate four Daruns: the first in honor of Rashné Rast; -the second of Raon Ized; the third of Surúsh, with six Darúns, three -large and three small; and the fourth in honor of the Ferouers of the -Saints: with this last they place four dresses, along with fruits and cheese, -all of which are for the officiating priest.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_504" id="footnote_504"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_504"><span class="muchsmaller">[504]</span></a> - The Niyayish is an humble and submissive form of prayer, of which -there are five, addressed to five Izeds, and containing their panegyrics: -the sun, Mithra, the moon, the female Ardouisur, and the fire Behrám. -Amongst the attributes of Ardouisur are: making females prolific, pure, -giving them happy child-births, supplying milk, etc. The great Vorôokeshé -makes every thing grow and exist in those places where it flows, and -whither it bears the element of water, from the source Ardouisur of a -thousand channels and a thousand arms, each of which extends to a -journey of forty days as performed by a well-mounted horseman.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. -S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_505" id="footnote_505"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_505"><span class="muchsmaller">[505]</span></a> - According to Hyde’s version Gojestah, or Gosakhtah, became the -devil, because he lapsed from the truth and lessened it. When he saw -he had to contend against the truth, he fell prostrate in astonishment -during a thousand years, and dared not venture to approach the world, -but remained groaning and trembling in his own place. I cannot find -this tradition in the <cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, according to which, Bomasp is the -demon of falsehood. On the authority of <span class="sc">Gate 91</span>, -I prefer reading Gokhastah -to Kusastah, or “the broken.” Hyde (<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 180) mentions that the -Indo-Persians reckon Gegjesta Ghanáminu the immediate minister of -Ahriman.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_506" id="footnote_506"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_506"><span class="muchsmaller">[506]</span></a> - According to an ancient custom which is observed even in our days, -the mouth of a dying Parsí is applied to that of a dog, who is to receive -the man’s last breath. This custom may have occasioned the belief that -the Persians let dogs devour their sick and dying. So says Herodotus -(<abbr title="liber Three">l. III.</abbr>); Strabo (<abbr title="liber Eleven">l. XI.</abbr>) -names the Bactrians and Sogdians as feeding for -this purpose certain dogs, whom they call “buriers of the dead;” Cicero -(<abbr title="Tusculanae, liber 45">Tusc., l. XLV</abbr>) mentions the -same of the Hyrcanians. Certainly, different -customs prevailed in different times among the numerous nations -who inhabited the vast empire of Persia: hence may be explained the -various and sometimes contradictory accounts of ancient authors whose -affirmation, denial, and silence, with respect to a particular fact, may -however, in many instances, with equal truth but with due restriction, -be applied to particular places and epochs.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_507" id="footnote_507"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_507"><span class="muchsmaller">[507]</span></a> - The Parsis, from the most ancient to our times, neither bury nor burn -their dead, but expose them to be devoured by birds and wild beasts. -They fear to pollute the earth and the fire, which they hold sacred. It -is, however, well established that they built formerly very magnificent -sepulchres for kings and eminent men, to whom probably the privilege of -such monumental graves was confined.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_508" id="footnote_508"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_508"><span class="muchsmaller">[508]</span></a> - The readings in the manuscript and printed copy are both erroneous; -therefore Yarshanom, Pituft Irash, and Tipat Barash have, on the authority -of Anquetil Du Perron, been changed into Barashnom, and Patet -Iran.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_509" id="footnote_509"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_509"><span class="muchsmaller">[509]</span></a> - Among the animals, cows, sheep, and fowls are particularly specified.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_510" id="footnote_510"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_510"><span class="muchsmaller">[510]</span></a> - For Eshem Vehu, see <a href="#gate22"><span class="sc">Gate 22</span></a>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_511" id="footnote_511"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_511"><span class="muchsmaller">[511]</span></a> - The same is said of Mohammed, see <a href="#footnote_227">note</a>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 3.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_512" id="footnote_512"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_512"><span class="muchsmaller">[512]</span></a> - If the epoch of Kaíomars be adopted according to Ferdusi, 3529 -B. C., that of Zoroaster would be = 529 years before our era. In the -Mojmel al Tavarikh (<abbr title="Fourth">IVth</abbr> chapter, upon the chronology of the philosophers -and some kings of Rúm) it is stated that, since Zoroaster appeared, -1700 years had elapsed to the time of the author, who wrote in the year -1530 of the Hejira, or A. D. 1126; therefore Zoroaster would have lived -574 years B. C. If the 1700 years be taken for lunar years, the epoch -would answer to 522 before the Christian era.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_513" id="footnote_513"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_513"><span class="muchsmaller">[513]</span></a> - For <span class="title">Pávyáb</span>, or according to Anquetil du Perron, <span class="title">Padiav</span> water, -see <a href="#gate54"><span class="sc">Gate 54</span></a>. This word may perhaps be derived from the Sanskrit -<span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">पू</span> <dfn>pú</dfn>, “to purify;” <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">पवित्र</span> -<dfn>pavitra</dfn>, “pure;” <span lang="sa" xml:lang="sa">पवित्रं</span> <dfn>pavitram</dfn>, “water, -rain, cleansing in general, a sacrificial implement.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_514" id="footnote_514"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_514"><span class="muchsmaller">[514]</span></a> - For Adar Behrám, or the fire of Behram, see note on <a href="#gate53"><span class="sc">Gate 53</span></a>. Instead -of Var Behrám and Vār Behrām of the manuscript, and Varcháram -of the <abbr title="edition">edit.</abbr> of Calcutta, Adar Behrám has been adopted on Hyde’s authority.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_515" id="footnote_515"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_515"><span class="muchsmaller">[515]</span></a> - Bahrám is the most active of the Izeds, the king of all the beings; -with a celestial body, receiving his glory and splendor from Ormuzd, -he presides over the 20th day of the month; he bestows health and victory, -and combats the Dívs. He appears under the form of a young man -of fifteen years, and under those of different animals; that of a cock has -already been mentioned (see <a href="#footnote_484">note</a>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 324); -he appears besides as a bull, -a horse, a camel, a ram, a he-goat, a lamb. He is also identified with -the planet Mars, and acts a great part in the ancient history of Persia. -See <cite>Zand-Avesta</cite>, <abbr title="tome One Second Part, pages">t. I. 2. P. pp.</abbr> -83. 86. 91; <abbr title="tome Two, pages">t. II. pp.</abbr> 98. 287. 289. 290. -294. 321. 356. and in other places.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_516" id="footnote_516"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_516"><span class="muchsmaller">[516]</span></a> - The Calcutta edition reads <cite>Pímasídím</cite>; the above agrees nearly -with the name given by Anquetil, which is <span class="title">Hamespethmédem</span>. The other -names of the Gahambars, according to the spelling of that author, are, -from the first to the fifth, as follow: <span class="title">Medïozerem</span>, <span class="title">Medïoshem</span>, <span class="title">Peteschem</span>, -<span class="title">Eïathrem</span>, and <span class="title">Médïarem</span>. The statement relative to these six festivals, -as contained in the Afrín of the Gahambar <cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, <abbr title="tome Two, pages">t. II. pp.</abbr> 82-87) -coincides with that of the Dabistán. Ormuzd himself holds out -remunerations to those who rightly celebrate each of these days, and -condign punishments to those who neglect the prescribed observances.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_517" id="footnote_517"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_517"><span class="muchsmaller">[517]</span></a> - In the <cite>Ardi Viraf nameh</cite> we read, that the river of hell, most black -and frigid, is made of the tears of those who mourn for the dead; to the -surviving friends silence and pious mussitation in remembering the -merits of the dead are recommended.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_518" id="footnote_518"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_518"><span class="muchsmaller">[518]</span></a> - See <a href="#footnote_327">note</a>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 105.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_519" id="footnote_519"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_519"><span class="muchsmaller">[519]</span></a> - Nothing existed before the first principle began the work of creation; -this principle is called in the <cite>Bun-Dehesh Zaruam akarené</cite>, “the boundless -time;” that is, “sine extremitatibus anterioribus et posterioribus.” -Distinct from it is “the long time,” which is said to be created -by God, and not “self-existing” as the first. Among the productions -of this first principle, some are “self-creating,” such as Ormuzd and Ahriman -(see <a href="#footnote_403">note</a>, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 235-236); -others act only upon what exists already, -such as the three substances—the primordial light, the primordial water, -and the primordial fire. This is the doctrine expressed in Zand, Pehlvi, -and the most ancient Persian books. The above statement about the -eternal existence of the heavens seems therefore not in accordance with -it. The Abádians or the Kaiomarsiáns acknowledged the good principle -under the name of <span class="title">Yezdan</span>, and the bad principle under that of <span class="title">Ahriman</span>; -but they believed that the first only was from eternity, and not the last; -or in other terms, that light only was eternal and darkness created. The -cosmogony of this sect was the same as that related in the <cite>Bun-Dehesh</cite>, -or as that of Zoroaster; it is briefly as follows: The primordial bull was -the principle of all irrational creatures as well as of the human race. -According to the <cite>Izeshné</cite> and the <cite>Bun-Dehesh</cite>, the primitive man came -forth from the side of the bull; he was called in Zand <span class="title">gaya mereta</span>, and -in Pehlvi <span class="title">gayo mard</span>; a word compounded of <dfn>gaya</dfn>, “bull or life,” and -of <dfn>mĕrĕta</dfn>, “mortal,” or “man;” hence came <dfn>Gayomars</dfn>, or <dfn>Kaïomars</dfn>, -the name of a most ancient Persian king (see <a href="#footnote_250">note</a>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 29). From the seed -of Gayomard sprung a tree which was shaped like two men, and the fruit -of which comprised ten different species of men; from these two bodies -came the twins Meshia and Meshiané, man and woman, the ancestors of -mankind. Although created for happiness, they were seduced by Ahriman, -and averted from the adoration of Ormuzd; they wandered in the -wilderness, were addicted to hunting, clad in skins of animals, and their -posterity peopled the earth.</p> - -<p class="footnote">But Ormuzd did not forsake his creatures. In order to emancipate -them from the rule of Ahriman, he destined to them his word, the law of -Zartusht, who always existed, but his <dfn>feruer</dfn>, that is, “the ideal of his -perfection,” was to be produced by Zardusht’s fire.</p> - -<p class="footnote">He was to be preceded by <span class="title">Hom</span>, the first apostle of the law, whom Jemshid -followed. This king and prophet erected but few fire-temples; -mankind venerated the elements and the stars, not without a number of -evil genii, and a gross superstition began to prevail. For opposing this -and renewing the primitive law, Zardusht appeared.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_520" id="footnote_520"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_520"><span class="muchsmaller">[520]</span></a> - It appears quite conformable with true psychology to derive the origin -of the evil spirit from jealousy, as was said in the <a href="#footnote_403">note</a> at <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 236, or from -apprehension, doubt, suspicion, or envy, as above.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_521" id="footnote_521"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_521"><span class="muchsmaller">[521]</span></a> - According to the <cite>Boun Dehesh</cite> (<cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, <abbr title="tome Two, pages">t. II. pp.</abbr> 347-348), -Ormuzd will during three thousand years move alone; during three other -thousand years, his operations will be blended with those of his adversary; -the subsequent three thousand years will belong to Ahriman; and -in the last three, completing the period of twelve thousand years, the -author of evil shall disappear; and at the resurrection of the dead and -the renewal of the bodies—previous to which event are to appear the three -posthumous sons of Zoroaster (see <a href="#footnote_433">note</a>, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 281-282)—the world shall -be without evil during all ages.</p> - -<p class="footnote">The ultimate fate of Ahriman is stated in the <cite>Vendidad Sadé Izeshné</cite> -and <cite>Vispered</cite>, as follows (<cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, <abbr title="tome One, Second Part, page">t. I. 2. P. p.</abbr> 169): “That unjust, -that impure being, who is a Div but in his thoughts; that dark king -of the Darwands, who understands nothing but evil; he shall, at the -resurrection, recite the Avesta, and not only himself practise the law -of Ormuzd, but establish it even in the habitations of the Darwands.” -Moreover it is said (<cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, <abbr title="tome Two, pages">t. II. pp.</abbr> 415-416), that Ahriman, that -lying serpent, shall at the end of ages be purified by fire, as well as the -earth be freed from the dark abode of hell; Ormuzd and Ahriman, accompanied -by all the good and evil genii, shall sing the praises of the author -of all good.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_522" id="footnote_522"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_522"><span class="muchsmaller">[522]</span></a> - Záíd and Amru are two names which grammarians use in giving an -example for any two individuals, such as may be said A. and B.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_523" id="footnote_523"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_523"><span class="muchsmaller">[523]</span></a> - The author of the <cite>Dabistán</cite> names no other famous teachers or -sectaries of Magism, after the death of Zoroaster, besides Ardai Viraf, -Azarbád, and Mazdak: he treats of this last in particular in the subsequent -section, previously to which we cannot omit adverting to Mani or -Manes, whose name occurs in this book but once occasionally, as that of -a painter (see <a href="#footnote_377">note</a>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 205). He is however much more reputed as the -founder of a new doctrine, called from him <dfn>Manichæism</dfn>, which spread -its ramifications widely through the Christian world. According to -several authors, Mani was a Christian priest, and pretended to act the -part of Paraclet, the announced successor to Jesus Christ; according to -Khondemir, he endeavored to substitute himself for Mohammed, to -whom that prophecy respecting a Paraclet was applied by the Muselmans. -However it be, Mani’s Enghelion, or Gospel, has not been preserved, -nor any other work written by himself; the books of his followers -too, such as could be found, were burnt. His religion is stated to have -been a mixture of Magism, Brahmanism or Buddhism, Judaism, and -Christianism; Shahristani, often quoted in this work, and Mohammed Ibn -el Nedim el Werrak, author of the Fehrist (a history of literature), agree -in representing his doctrine as a branch of Magism with some Christianism -ingrafted upon it.</p> - -<p class="footnote">The two points attributed to Mani by the commentator of the Desátir, -namely, the permission to kill harmless animals, and the prohibition of -sexual intercourse, belong rather to the ethical or practical, than to the -theological, part of his religion, which distinguished itself by particular -dogmas and opinions relative to the duality of principle, good and bad, -light and darkness, involving other metaphysical questions. These, we -know, were common to other religions in all times. Before Manes, Christian -sects combined the said principles with the dogmas of their religion: -so did the followers of Basilides, Marcion, Bardesanes, Valentius, and -others. These, as well as after them the disciples of Manes, happen to be -not seldom confounded with the Gnostics, which name was applied to different -sectaries, chiefly Neo-platonics, from the earliest to later times of -Christianism. The Manichæans rejected the Old Testament entirely, and -partly the New, which they interpreted according to their opinion. They -disputed about the nature of Jesus, and modified Christian theology; they -believed a region inhabited by God and the pure spirits, prior to the -creation; a world, created of an eternal and self-existing matter; ten -heavens and eight earths; two empires, the one of light and the other of -darkness; the last, ruled by the great Lord, called “matter;” demons -with material souls and bodies; the soul no part of the divinty, but united -with the body to govern it; two souls in every man; the propagation of -souls; a transmigration of souls into animals; the stars, and every thing -in nature, even the stones, animated; the rotundity of heaven and of -the earth; antipodes; and other theses too many to be all enumerated -in this place. They had besides particular rites of worship, from which -the veneration of the sun, the moon, and other stars, was not excluded; -they were averse to matrimony, and generally austere in their -manners. See about this extensive subject the <cite>Mémoires</cite> of the learned -Abbé Foucher, in the <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><abbr title="Histoire de l'Académie royale des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres">Hist. -de l’Acad. Royale des Insc. et Belles-Lett.</abbr></cite>, -<abbr title="tome 29">t. xxix</abbr>, and the work quoted, <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><abbr title="Histoire critique">Hist. -crit.</abbr> de Manichée</cite>, by Beausobre.—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p4"><span class="sc">The fifteenth section gives an account of the -tenets held by the followers of Mazdak.</span>—Mazdak -<a name="Page_373" id="Page_373"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 373</span> -was a holy and learned man, contemporary with -king Kobad; his religion was extensively diffused, -but he was at last put to death by the illustrious -Nushirvan; his tenets were as follow: from the -commencement without beginning, the world had -two creators; the agent of good, <dfn>Yazdan</dfn>, “God,” -or “light;” and the agent of evil, <dfn>Ahriman</dfn>, or -“darkness.” The supreme God is the author of -good, and from him proceeds nothing but good; -consequently, intelligences, souls, heavens, and -stars are his creation, in all which Ahriman has no -share whatever; the elements and their combinations -<a name="Page_374" id="Page_374"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 374</span> -are, in like manner, the productions of the -Lord; the influence of fire imparts warmth to those -stricken with cold; the breathing of the winds gives -coolness and ease to those consumed by heat; the -water satisfies those parched with thirst; the earth -is the place of ambulation. In like manner, their -combinations, such as gold and silver among minerals; -the fruit-bearing trees among vegetables; the -ox, horse, sheep, and camel, of animals; the pious -and beneficent among mankind, are his creation: but -the consuming of animals by fire; the destruction of -living creatures by the sultry simoom (wind); the -foundering of ships in floods; the cutting bodies -asunder by iron, or their being pricked by thorns; -rapacious and noxious animals, such as lions, tigers, -scorpions, serpents, and the like, are all the works -of Ahriman; and as he has no share in the empyreal -heaven, they style it <span class="title">Behisht</span>; but as he possesses a -joint authority in the elemental world, opposition -has consequently arisen, and no form subsisting in -it is possessed of permanent duration. For example: -the Almighty bestows life, and Ahriman puts -to death; life is the creation of God, death that of -Ahriman; God produced health, Ahriman, pain and -disease; the Bestower of blessings created paradise, -Ahriman, hell; the worship of the Lord is therefore -most meet, as his kingdom is immense; and -Ahriman has no power, except in the elemental -<a name="Page_375" id="Page_375"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 375</span> -world; in the next place, the spirit of every one -devoted to God ascends on high, but that of Ahriman’s -servants abides in hell. Wisdom therefore -requires the man of intelligence to separate himself -from the Ahrimans; for although the author of evil -may afflict such a person, yet on being delivered -from the body, his soul ascends to Heaven, whither -Ahriman has not the power of coming.</p> - -<p>In some parts of the <cite>Desnad</cite>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_524" id="fnanchor_524"></a><a href="#footnote_524" class="fnanchor">[524]</a></span> -Mazdak says: -“Existence arises from two principles or sources, -<dfn>Shíd</dfn> and <dfn>Tár</dfn>,” <span class="decoration">i. e.</span>: ‘light’ and ‘darkness,’ which -he afterwards interprets to mean God and Ahriman. -He afterwards says: “The works of light result -from choice, but those of darkness from accident; -light is endued with knowledge and sensation, -darkness is ignorant; the mixture of light and -darkness is accidental, and the disengagement of -light from darkness is also accidental, and not -the result of choice; whatever is good in this -world is an advantage emanating from light, -whilst evil and corruption arise from darkness; -when the parts of light are separated from darkness, -the compound becomes dissolved, which -means resurrection.” Again, he says in the same -volume: “There are three roots, or principles: -water, fire, and earth; when these are blended -<a name="Page_376" id="Page_376"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 376</span> -together, the tendency to good or evil arising from -their mixture is also accidental; whatever results -from their purest parts tends to good, and whatever -is derived from their grosser parts tends to -evil.” He says in the same volume: “God is seated -on a throne in the world, the source of all things, -just as kings are on the throne of sovereignty in the -lower world. In his presence are the four energies, -namely, <dfn>Bázkushá</dfn>, or ‘power of discrimination;’ -<dfn>Yáddah</dfn>, or ‘power of memory;’ <dfn>Dáná</dfn>, or -‘faculty of comprehension;’ and <dfn>Surá</dfn>, or ‘gladness;’ -in like manner as the affairs of royalty -turn on four persons: “the Supreme Pontiff, -the principal Hirbud, the commander in chief of -the forces, and the master of the revels. And -these four persons conduct the affairs of the world -through the agency of seven others, inferior to -them in rank, namely, chieftain, administrator, -<dfn>Banúr</dfn>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_525" id="fnanchor_525"></a><a href="#footnote_525" class="fnanchor">[525]</a></span> -<dfn>Dairván</dfn> (head of a monastery), agent, -<dfn>Dostúr</dfn>, and slave; which seven characters comprehend -under them the twelve <dfn>Rawání</dfn>, or ‘orbits’ -of spirits, namely: the speaker, giver, taker, -bearer, eater, runner, grazer, slayer, smiter, -comer, goer, and abider. Whatever man unites -in himself the four energies, the seven agents, -<a name="Page_377" id="Page_377"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 377</span> -and the twelve qualities, becomes in this lower -world like a creator or protector, and is delivered -from all kinds of embarrassment.”</p> - -<p>It is also stated in the same volume: “Whatever -is not according with the light and agrees with -darkness, becomes wrath, destruction, and discord. -And whereas almost all contentions among -mankind have been caused by riches and women, -it is therefore necessary to emancipate the female -sex and have wealth in common: he therefore -made all men partners in riches and women; just -as they are of fire, water, and grass,” In the same -volume we find: “It is a great injustice that one -man’s wife should be altogether beautiful, whilst -another’s is quite the contrary; it therefore becomes -imperative, on the score of justice and -true religion, for a good man to resign his lovely -wife for a short time to his neighbour, who has -one both evil and ugly; and also take to himself -for a short time his neighbour’s deformed consort.”</p> - -<p>Mazdak has also said: “It is altogether reprehensible -and improper that one man should hold -a distinguished rank, and another remain poor -and destitute of resources: it is therefore incumbent -on the believer to divide his wealth with his -coreligionist; and so taught the religion of Zardusht, -that he should even send his wife to visit -<a name="Page_378" id="Page_378"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 378</span> -him, that he may not be deprived of female society. -But if his coreligionist should prove unable -to acquire wealth, or show proofs of extravagance, -infatuation, or insanity, he is to be confined -to the house, and measures adopted to provide -him with food, clothing, and all things requisite: -whoever assents not to these arrangements -is consequently a follower of Ahriman’s, and they -get contributions from him by compulsion.”</p> - -<p><span class="person">Farhád</span>, <span class="person">Shíráb</span>, -and <span class="person">Ayin Hoshpúyár</span> adopted this -creed; besides these, <span class="person">Muhammed Kúlí</span> the Kurd, -<span class="person">Ismail Bég</span>, the Georgian, and <span class="person">Ahmadai of Tiran</span> (a -village near Ispahan) possessed this faith. From -them it has been ascertained, that the followers of -Mazdak do not at present assume the dress of Gebers, -but practise their religion secretly among the -Muhammedans. They also showed the author the -volume of Mazdak, called the <span class="title">Desnad</span>, written in old -Persian, which <span class="person">Ayin Shakib</span>, the grandfather of <span class="person">Ayin -Hosh</span>, translated into popular Persian. <span class="person">Farhod</span> was -a man of great intelligence, and assumed the name -of <span class="title">Muhammed Said Beg</span> among the Muhammedans: -Shirab went under the name of <span class="title">Shir Muhammed</span>, and -<span class="person">Ayin Hosh</span> under that of <span class="title">Muhammed Akil</span>; and as they -were eminent in their peculiar science, they possessed -the volume called the <span class="title">Desnád</span>. Such is the -detailed account of the Parsi systems, agreeably to -the promise made in the beginning of this work, -<a name="Page_379" id="Page_379"></a><span class="pageno">Pg 379</span> -into which not a single one has been admitted which -has not either been taken from their own books, or -heard from the followers of the respective creeds, -as their enemies have, from hostile motives, falsely -ascribed to them various erroneous -doctrines.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_526" id="fnanchor_526"></a><a href="#footnote_526" class="fnanchor">[526]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2 footnote"> <a name="footnote_524" id="footnote_524"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_524"><span class="muchsmaller">[524]</span></a> - Desnad, the volume which contains the doctrines of Mazdak.—<abbr title="David Shea">D. S.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_525" id="footnote_525"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_525"><span class="muchsmaller">[525]</span></a> - A word not in the dictionaries; if derivable from बाण <dfn>bána</dfn>, “an -arrow,” it may signify “an archer, head-archer;” if from बाणी <dfn>bání</dfn>, -“speech,” it may be “a speaker, an orator.”—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_526" id="footnote_526"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_526"><span class="muchsmaller">[526]</span></a> - This first chapter of the Dabistán, here finished, represents the Sabæismus, -or the worship of the heavenly bodies, and the formation of -society by a race of kings, called the Máhábádiáns, who were succeeded -by the Péshdádiáns, and other known dynasties of the Persian kings. -We see laid down the principal features of Asiatic monarchies which -have been preserved from times immemorial to our days. The Dabistán, -it is true, blends the ideas of more recent epochs with those of the -highest antiquity, and introduces sects of later times, the origin of -which he traces back to the times of Abád, Húshang, and Zohák. It is -however clear, that a very ancient religion prevailed in Asia, consisting -of two principal points: the first was the adoration of the Creator of -all good, whose unity was acknowledged very early by the enlightened -class of men; the second point was the detestation of the author of all -physical and moral evil. This religion inculcated purity of thoughts, -words, and actions, and a tender regard for animal life; not without a -great number of liturgical rites, dietetical observances, and other regulating -customs in private and public. We may comprise under the -general name of “Magismus” the fourteen religions mentioned in this -chapter, the last but one of which, namely, that of Zardusht, appears to -have been but a new systematic arrangement, not without a partial -reform, of the old general religion of Asia, which has also been attributed -to a more ancient Zardusht.</p> - -<p class="footnote">The duality of principle (good and bad) seems to come home to the -common feeling of mankind; but it implies metaphysical questions -about the creation, anteriority, posteriority, derivation and duration of -light and darkness, about which the different sects are divided by their -dogmas and opinions. That of the Zardushtiáns derived from God light -and darkness, and considered the last as a shadow inseparable from the -body. Zardusht was a dualist, inasmuch as he adopted light and darkness, -as two eternal principles opposed to each other, and also inasmuch -as he taught two immediate authors of good and evil, who were independent -of, and absolutely contrary to, each other: but he was an unitarian, -inasmuch as he subordinated these authors to the eternal decrees -of the Supreme Being, who to him was the only principle of the universe, -with respect not only to its original creation, but also to all its -physical and moral accidents.</p> - -<p class="footnote">Although subdivided into sects, Zardusht’s religion appears to have -been dominant, until the forcible introduction of Muhammedanism -among the Persians, and zealously supported by the preaching of four -wise men, called Sásán, who lived from 240 to 643 of the Christian era.</p> - -<p class="footnote">Here follow the principal epochs of the Zardushtián religion from the -time of Gushtasp to the end of the ancient Persian monarchy:</p> - -<table summary="" class="epub fn"> -<tr><td class="center"><span class="muchsmaller">THE REIGNS OF</span></td> - <td class="center"><span class="muchsmaller">ACCORDING TO FERDUSI.</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="footleft"><abbr title="One">I.</abbr> <span class="sc">Gushtasp</span></td> - <td class="footcenter"><span class="decoration">from</span> 652 <span class="decoration">to</span> 505 B. C.</td> - <td class="footright">Then lived Zardusht.</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="footleft"><abbr title="Two">II.</abbr> <span class="sc">Alexander</span></td> - <td class="footcenter"> — 337-323 id. </td> - <td class="footright">The First Sásan (Desátir, <abbr title="pages">pp.</abbr> 185. 186).</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="footleft"><abbr title="Three">III.</abbr> <span class="sc">Ardeshir Babegan</span></td> - <td class="footcenter">— 200-240 A. D.</td> - <td class="footright">Arda Viraf.</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="footleft"><abbr title="Four">IV.</abbr> <span class="sc">Shapur <abbr title="Two">II.</abbr></span></td> - <td class="footcenter">— 240-271 id. </td> - <td class="footright">Arzabad, the son of Marasfand, Sásan <abbr title="Two">II.</abbr> -(<abbr title="Desátir, page">Desát, p.</abbr> 188.)</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="footleft"><abbr title="Five">V.</abbr> <span class="sc">Bahram</span>, the son of Hormuzd</td> - <td class="footcenter">— 272-276 id. </td> - <td class="footright">Mani.</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="footleft"><abbr title="Six">VI.</abbr> <span class="sc">Kobad</span></td> - <td class="footcenter">— 488-531 id. </td> - <td class="footright">Sásan <abbr title="Three">III.</abbr> Mazdak.</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="footleft"><abbr title="Seven">VII.</abbr> <span class="sc">Khosru Parvis</span></td> - <td class="footcenter">— 591-628 id. </td> - <td class="footright" rowspan="2">The Fourth and the Fifth Sásan.</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="footleft"><abbr title="Eight">VIII.</abbr> <span class="sc">Yezdejerd</span></td> - <td class="footcenter">— 632-652 id. </td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="rightindent smaller">—<abbr title="Anthony Troyer">A. T.</abbr></p> - -<p class="p2"></p> - -<p class="center">END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.</p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p class="p4 center">ERRATA.</p> - -<p>P. 31 <a href="#footnote_256">(note)</a> last line. Instead of “He,” read “Hushang.” This part of -the note, to begin from “Hushang,” ought to have been placed -higher up, at the beginning of the last paragraph, before “Jemshid,” -also called “Jemshar.”</p> - -<p>P. 57 <a href="#footnote_292">(note)</a> l. 5. Instead of “assumed by,” read “given to.”</p> - - -<hr class="p4 break short" /> -<p class="center">PARIS:</p> - -<p>Printed by Madame <span class="sc">V<sup>e</sup> Dondey-Dupré</span>, -46, rue St-Louis, au Marais.</p> -<hr class="short" /></div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h4 class="h4head">Transcriber's Note</h4> - -<p>This book was written in a period when many words had not become -standardized in their spelling. Words and names have multiple spelling -variations, inconsistent hyphenation and inconsistent accent marks. -Misspelled words in English, Greek, Persian and Sanskrit were left -unchanged. Accent marks for transliterations of Persian and Sandskrit -were standardized with accents placed above vowels, and letter -s; a high comma precedes aspirated consonant h.</p> - -<p>Duplicate words were removed. Obvious printing errors, such as upside -down, backwards, or missing letters, and letters in the wrong order, -were corrected. Spaces were added or removed between words, as -appropriate. Quotation marks and parentheses were adjusted to standard -usage. Missing stops were added to abbreviations and ends of -sentences. Missing commas were added between items in lists. Commas -were changed to stops at ends of sentences.</p> - -<p>Footnotes were numbered sequentially and were moved to the end of the -section in which they occurred. Anchors for footnotes 69, 85, 192, 364, -479, 482, 489 are missing in the original; for 69, 85, 364, 482, 489, -anchors were added where they likely belong. Location for anchor 192 -could not be determined. There are two anchors to footnotes 117, 138, -and 232. Tables within footnotes 251 and 253 were aligned to display -better in e-publications.</p> - -<p>Noted, not changed:</p> - <ul> - <li>The word “ibid” occasionally is not in italics.</li> - <li>For consistency, paragraph number <abbr title="Five">V.</abbr>, should be 5., page <a href="#Page_clxiv">clxiv</a></li> - <li>The word “sir” is occasionally lower case as a title.</li> - <li>Dots were used instead of ditto marks in footnote <a href="#footnote_499">499</a>.</li> - <li>Page cite in footnote <a href="#footnote_105">105</a> should be 134, not 190, as printed.</li> - <li>Page cite in footnote <a href="#footnote_460">460</a> should be 246, not 236, as printed. Link to correct citation provided.</li> - </ul> - -<p>Changes:</p> - <ul> - <li>Removed extraneous comma between “latter formed” on page <a href="#Page_lii">lii</a>.</li> - <li>Changed semicolon to full stop after “East India Company,” page <a href="#Page_clxxxix">clxxxix</a>.</li> - <li>Changed colon to semicolon after the word “completed,” page <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</li> - <li>Changed colon to semicolon in the series of phrases in the quotation on page <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li> - <li>Changed stop to to colon, third paragraph, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</li> - </ul> - -</div><!--end transcriber note--> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dabistán, Volume 1 (of 3), by -David Shea and Anthony Troyer and Muòhsin Fåanåi - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DABISTÁN, VOLUME 1 (OF 3) *** - -***** This file should be named 63275-h.htm or 63275-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/2/7/63275/ - -Produced by Édith Nolot, Bryan Ness, Carol Brown and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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